Tortola Thanksgiving

As most of you know, yesterday was the US holiday of Thanksgiving. I hope all of you in the States had a satisfying feast and enjoyed the football, and that you're getting all the shopping deals you want today. 

Since Thanksgiving is a US holiday, it is only partially celebrated in the BVIs. There is a sizable American ex-pat population, and of course some Americans may be visiting during the holiday. In response to this American presence, many restaurants do a set Thanksgiving menu, while others accommodate the holiday by adding a traditional Thanksgiving dinner special to their regular menu. 

Most of the Americans who have been on island for an extended period have potluck Thanksgiving dinners with friends in groups of 8 to 12 or so. The small size of kitchens in most apartments and the likelihood that recent arrivals won't have much equipment for roasting and baking and boiling makes the potluck a practical approach to Thanksgiving.

Having only been here for three months, HB and I have made friends with a few folks, but no Americans. As a result, we were left to our own devices for Thanksgiving. Since Thanksgiving is not an official holiday here, both HB and I had to work. That, combined with the fact that I have exactly one baking dish, made for a slightly truncated Thanksgiving dinner for us. 

No turkey or stuffing or mashed potatoes for us. Instead, we resorted to the one-pot, semi-traditional (for HB anyway) solution to Thanksgiving: Chicken and Dumplings. And since I don't have a pie plate yet, instead of pumpkin pie, we had pumpkin cake. In all, a satisfying first Thanksgiving in a foreign locale.