Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but like the previous year, it was just the two of us again and that's okay. As I've said in my other Thanksgiving posts, this is one holiday that only Americans can appreciate. For any Argentine guests we invite over, it's just a friendly get-together with lots of food. So, we didn't mind celebrating Thanksgiving by ourselves.
One of the things I love the most about this holiday is cooking with the hubs. Now I'll admit that I'm not the greatest cook in the world, but he is. And I'm just glad to help out cutting the potatoes and prepping the bread for the stuffing, but it's never easy during this time of year because it's scorching hot in Argentina. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a freak cold front down here during the months of October, November, and December! Regardless, the hubs and I started prepping a small Thanksgiving meal for two that we could enjoy.
We opted once again to not buy a turkey because most of it would have ended up in the fridge and we would have had to throw it out a few days later. We felt that it wasn't worth wasting money on, especially given what happened a few days before turkey day.
Out of the blue, I received a message from one of my "bosses" who handed me freelance assignments over the last seven years. She told me that we had been cut loose by her boss, though I suspect she only wanted to cut me loose, and I won't lie, it stung a little. But don't worry. I was only getting paid $30,000 Argentine pesos, which is the equivalent of $297.23 USD a month. Although $30,000 Argentine pesos isn't considered trump change in Argentina, it's certainly not enough to break a sweat over. Essentially, I was doing more and getting paid less, but getting taking advantage of is a risk when you do freelancing. I think the reason I'm so calm over this is that I've been doing other freelance work on the side for other people. This includes teaching English via Zoom. Plus, the hubs works on a lot of projects that pay fairly decent (by Argentine standards, at least).
So back to our Thanksgiving feast. In lieu of a turkey, we opted for seasoned chicken along with side dishes like potato salad, mashed potatoes, corn, and my favorite--stuffing. No, we didn't do a green bean casserole because frankly, we find it disgusting. Besides, we had plenty to eat like bread loaves, apple pastries, and pretzels from a German-inspired restaurant called Backerhaus.
And yes, we had leftovers that lasted through the weekend. We planned on making a pie, which is traditional during Thanksgiving, but we were so tired of cooking all day and the heat in the kitchen was so intense, that we said, "screw it." So, we just had vanilla pudding and alcoholic smoothies to cool off while we watched a recording of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Then, we gasped when we realized that Thanksgiving this year fell on the same day as our 20-year anniversary. Although we celebrated 20 years of being together in March during our 9 year wedding anniversary, November 25 is the day that we officially became a couple. But when you've been with someone as long as the hubs and I have, you learn to celebrate your anniversary every day.
Another thing you might have noticed from the photo above is that I gained some weight. Surprise! I'm pregnant! Ha! No. This is Argentina. Not "American Horror Story" season 10. The truth is that I ate a lot between Halloween and Thanksgiving, so I'm trying to get back in shape because I know I'm going to pig out on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. I still can't believe there's only a month left before 2022 arrives. Now, if you'll excuse me. I need to start setting up the Christmas decorations.
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