Yesterday was Thanksgiving, a day for family, food, and giving thanks. Goodness knows I have so much to be thankful for that I could write a book. I am here with family so it was a wonderful day. We made some really good food too, including a couple new recipes that are worth sharing. This is a vegetarian house so dinner may be a bit different, but no less yummy.

From the top, fresh fruit salad (apples, pears, mandarin oranges, and grapes), rolls, then on the left, nut loaf, and sweet potatoes. Then, below that, green been casserole, mixed roasted vegetables, and stuffing.

The green bean casserole was the traditional mushroom soup recipe but made with fresh green beans which I thought was especially good. I must share the recipes for the sweet potatoes and nut loaf in other posts, because I thought they came out really well.

Mixed roasted vegetables was carrots, potatoes, green beans, zucchini, celery, mushrooms, garlic cloves, and onions with olive oil, salt, and fresh herbs. The stuffing was pork flavor Stove Top, the only flavor we saw in the supermarket that didn’t have a meat product listed on the ingredients. (pork with no pork broth or meat product?) The glasses have pink champagne for that extra festive touch.

Dinner prep – the kitchen looks remarkably organized thanks to my daughter who washed up all the prep dishes and cleaned up.

Dad was enlisted to take care of the baby, tough duty, as you can see.

The table is almost ready!

We had a good time putting this all together with some favorites, some remembered dishes, and some internet research. And, there are enough leftovers to enjoy for a few more meals.

Panamanians generally don’t celebrate Thanksgiving since it’s mainly a USA holiday (thought they are quite aware of it). I hadn’t even thought about Thanksgiving happening during my time in the USA but I’m glad it worked out. We had a really nice time.