# Picked up the tree / turkey today



## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Seems crazy early but we picked up our Christmas tree today. Timmy (we always give our trees names) isn't the tallest but it is very full. Our indoor cats LOVE it. Advice : don't wait too long or there won't be any left when you decide to shop (personal experience). 

Last year we took the 'long' drive to Amecameca. It was an interesting experience and perhaps everyone should do it once - but in hind-sight that was a very expensive tree - and was brown by New Years.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

My tree is named Jose. He's currently in a cell in Laredo awaiting repatriation.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

Not really doing Thanksgiving. I'm indifferent to the traditional turkey meal and fixings, the kids are NOB celebrating with other relatives, and the social aspect--breaking bread with the family, will be done on the Mexican equivalent, Noche Buena. As far as the tree, we'll toss a string of lights on one of the more aesthetically pleasing palms and paint the cocos.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes it is hard ro see what there are two family celebrations in one month. We do not celebrate Thanksgiving as it is not a French tradition and frankly I cannot imagine eating that type of food twice in a month, bad enough once a year..Unless it is connected to fond memories the wholething should be forgotten altogether.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

perropedorro said:


> Not really doing Thanksgiving. I'm indifferent to the traditional turkey meal and fixings, the kids are NOB celebrating with other relatives, and the social aspect--breaking bread with the family, will be done on the Mexican equivalent, Noche Buena. As far as the tree, we'll toss a string of lights on one of the more aesthetically pleasing palms and paint the cocos.


I have no idea where it is you live.

I think this will be our fourth Thanksgiving in Mexico. To be honest I am not the most social creature - but my wife is - and we have had a couple large get-togethers (?) with our Mexican friends for Thanksgiving - not always on the Thursdays. I guess they are humoring us - but it is a good excuse to see each other.

We have no cocos.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

citlali said:


> yes it is hard ro see what there are two family celebrations in one month. We do not celebrate Thanksgiving as it is not a French tradition and frankly I cannot imagine eating that type of food twice in a month, bad enough once a year..Unless it is connected to fond memories the wholething should be forgotten altogether.


I never eat that type of food, but I don't understand the "twice in a month" comment. Do you mean Christmas and Thanksgiving? I guess they are usually about a month apart.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

yes Thanksgiving and Christmas are about a month apart.. That makes it twice in a month or so ..


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

Gatos said:


> I have no idea where it is you live....We have no cocos.


In Colima, and we've got a dozen coconut palms on the property. Cocos are ubiquitous on the coastal plain of the Pacific anywhere south of Mazatlán, a major cash crop.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

perropedorro said:


> In Colima, and we've got a dozen coconut palms on the property. Cocos are ubiquitous on the coastal plain of the Pacific anywhere south of Mazatlán, a major cash crop.


We live at 5800 feet in the central highlands. We have a very tall queen palm and another regular palm, a large tabachine, 2 grenadas, 1 very large avocado (which bears very little fruit), 1 guava, 1 peach, 2 or 3 limes, 2 or 3 lemons, tangerine, navel orange, perhaps 3 other juice oranges, bananas, a pepper tree, mango, coffee, plum, red and yellow grapefruit, blackberry, raspberries and some weak blueberries. Maybe 50 or so cactus. Big yard - small house - lots of work

We have been giving fruit away lately to anyone who will take it


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*Christmas & Thanksgiving celebrations... (You're invited!)*

:xmastree:I've had a beef with seeing Christmas trees & decorations out preparing for the sales in the stores here since before Halloween. No, I'm not a scrooge, but by the time Christmas gets here it's been over-hyped, over-commercialized & worn out. I remember when my parents thought it was too early to see the public decorations out the day after Thanksgiving, when I was a kid. I've always loved how it's celebrated in Christmas beginning with the posadas, then the Noche Buena feast & dancing, and finally the visit of "los Reyes" and "la rosca de Reyes" dinner. I've noticed over the years how "Americanized" the tradition is becoming there, but it still has its own character.

We usually leave our tree & decorations up a little longer than everyone else here. We also celebrate "Little Christmas" on January 6th like Mexico's "Día de Reyes" with a smaller celebration, a(nother) big dinner and the "Rosca de Reyes". It keeps the spirit of Christmas alive a little longer for us; is convenient to get things forgotten or not found in time for "regular" Christmas; makes the kids feel "a little more special" because of their Mexican heritage; a chance to invite a load of friends over for the cultural aspect of the rosca; and it all feeds into our anniversary celebrations on the 7th. Sometimes we've left the outside decorations up until the end of January, depending on how severe the weather is, then finally turn them off. :tree::snowman:

Thanksgivings were always a "full-house" affair. It started when we were first married and invited all of our past-year's clients we helped as consultants in the "amnesty program" (Immigration Reform Control Act '86). From there on, we always seemed to tap into a big group of people far from home, alone or who hadn't celebrated the holiday before. This included friends & strangers from the military, hispanic & other internationals and later from my university's student population. We had some years with over 60 people, usually coming in "waves"; but usually with around 30-35 people. I did most of the cooking - especially the turkeys & stuffing - until my wife began to contribute some of her favorite dishes & fixings. The last several years have been increasingly lighter affairs as the kids have gone their separate ways (usually working), we've traveled more or found ourselves invited to other families' celebrations. I imagine things may pick up again as the grandkids come along and the kids want to perpetuate the tradition in their own way(s).

Yep, it's a lot of food - but it makes for GREAT leftovers from all of the celebrations, even after giving a lot of the food away to friends as they leave. Usually being the cook, I don't actually eat much of a meal after sampling & grazing all day while cooking & preparing the meals.

Great memories! What this all taught me was that to have great memories, we can make them for ourselves & others. Here's hoping the holidays are bright & full of joy for all of you! :wreath:


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

citlali said:


> yes it is hard ro see what there are two family celebrations in one month. We do not celebrate Thanksgiving as it is not a French tradition and frankly I cannot imagine eating that type of food twice in a month, bad enough once a year..Unless it is connected to fond memories the wholething should be forgotten altogether.


We have some Canadian friends.....so we had to help them celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. Then there's U.S. Thanksgiving, in memory of when the natives entertained some hungry immigrants (rich irony now) followed by Christmas.....so that's THREE of those meals. 
The great benefit of going to a restaurant (unless it's an all-you-can-eat one) is that you are served a limited amount of food and THERE ARE NO LEFTOVERS. (Also no cleanup until midnight).
We have some real feasts going here in Ajijic, so no lack of goodies this year.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

Well we are all truly different sort of people. Around here - turkeys don't seem to be available year round. So when we see them, we buy them. Already had one about a month ago. An 8-9 kg turkey makes one big meal for the two of us and perhaps another 3 lunches. So this holiday season we will keep eating turkey as long as it is available.

I can't believe that I lived nearly 60 years before I ever tried dressing. Same is true of Mexican fried beans. I've always been the kind of person that kept the meat separate from the potatoes separate from the veg on the plate.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

In Chiapas you can get turkey all year round as many people raise them in the backyard..They are tough as nail and best left in the backyard..


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

*Turkey + Mole = YUM!!*



citlali said:


> In Chiapas you can get turkey all year round as many people raise them in the backyard..They are tough as nail and best left in the backyard..


Cover them with some rico mole and it should go down a little better! YUMMM!!


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Howler you cannot imagine how bad those turkeys are until you have tried them . You can break your teeth on them with or without mole. I love mole so the mole is not the problem, The old hens are tough enough...They make wonderful broth but you can also break teeth on them.


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## Howler (Apr 22, 2013)

citlali said:


> Howler you cannot imagine how bad those turkeys are until you have tried them . You can break your teeth on them with or without mole. I love mole so the mole is not the problem, The old hens are tough enough...They make wonderful broth but you can also break teeth on them.


OMG!! Thanks for the warning! :laugh:


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