I hope everyone had a fun, family filled and drama free thanksgiving! In light of the election, and other controversial issues in the political and social sphere, tensions can run high during the holidays. Especially during Thanksgiving, when the focus is eating and spending time together.

Unlike in the majority of American homes who have their Thanksgiving meal in the early afternoon, Mexican homes have Thanksgiving dinner during. well, dinner time. In past years, my mom would make traditional Mexican dishes and we (my siblings and I) were in charge of the more American dishes. Of course this involved mostly boxed/pre made sides but we really enjoyed them regardless (they make them for a reason right? 😉). We also enjoyed our mother's and aunt's cooking, but from watching TV and knowing what traditional Thanksgiving food consisted of, we really craved having that Classic American aspect.

We spent Thanksgiving (Thursday) at my cousin's home, where he and his wife smoked a pig (in an impressive home built smoker) and had all the trimmings! We got there a little late, after the majority had finished their dinner, but it was good for eating shifts. After dinner, we sat around the table criticized, argued, and exchanged some banter like any other family. My parents then left for someone else's place (around 11pm) for an after party with live music and dancing. My siblings and I decided to stay home.

my cousin's set up (pic stolen from his FB)

we brought a ham to share, it was so yummy because the glaze baked with a nice crisp

we also ordered a tres leches cake and it was so moist and perfectly done, definitely a winner and everyone enjoyed

Friday morning around lunch time we went back to my cousin's place for leftovers (el recalentado). Everyone from the day before made it eventually. It was just as fun, especially because I don't see my family as often as I should, and they live within a 5 minute radius 🙈.

On Saturday, we did a small Thanksgiving lunch for my immediate family at home. When we went thanksgiving grocery shopping, my cousin's house wasn't in the plans so we bought a small turkey. We actually marinated it on Wednesday night, and baked it on Thursday, so it was now or never. It was in the fridge so it needed to go in the oven all over again for a bit. My mom decided last minute to rub it with a chilli blend, I stuffed it, and we began making a few sides.


I made sure to buy canned cranberry jelly, it is one of my favorite things during this holiday. We had mashed potatoes, saffron rice, turkey gravy, King's Hawaiian bread rolls, pecan pie and vanilla bean ice cream.

look at that steam

Hope everyone had a yummy Thanksgiving 2016! The year is flying by and I have some exciting news for my winter break that I'll share in the coming weeks.

Melissa 🐝