Flavour of the Day

(Published in Family Flavours November 2015)

Giving Thanks in Style!

By Laura Haddad

Although Thanksgiving is traditionally a holiday in the United States and Canada, more and more people in Jordan are coming together to celebrate fall and give thanks. Here's how we celebrated with multicultural family members and friends.

The Decorations

Pumpkins are a fun way to decorate any gathering this season. Instead of using a traditional vase for flowers, put your arrangement in carved-out pumpkins!

I wanted to incorporate the beautiful colours of fall with green and orange. Bookstores and gift shops in Amman are selling Thanksgiving-themed decorations, including the napkins shown here

Guests got to share what they are thankful for. Each guest wrote down their response and hung them on the branches of the centrepieces

These white spray-painted pumpkins kept us in the Thanksgiving theme of giving thanks

Because our guests were from different countries, we decorated these candles with flags to add another personal touch to the festive evening

I displayed the dinner menu in this golden frame

The Food

The traditional main course for Thanksgiving is turkey, but stuffing comes in a lot of variations. Traditional American stuffing usually consists of dried bread, croutons, onion, celery, salt, pepper and other spices and herbs. For the Jordanian palette, we made a rice and minced meat stuffing. Of course, any turkey slice has to be topped with gravy! We served a variety of salads to please every kind of guest!

My American sister-in-law made sweet potatoes, another American staple

Our turkey and pumpkin-themed desserts were big hits. You can get any bakery in Amman to design a themed cake or set of cupcakes

Although traditional favourites are apple pie or crumble and pumpkin pie or cheesecake, our dinner was a fusion of cultures, so we served up knafeh, a Jordanian cheese pastry dessert 

Event styling 

Need some extra help with decorating for your holiday events? Check out: 

*Pelion Design

*Style My Table

*Party in a Box 

*Celebrations Event Planners