Today is Thanksgiving in the United States and Americans in Belgium are celebrating too. Katherine Shirley and her Antwerp boyfriend Jan Kuijpers have planned an elaborate festive menu including a casserole with sweet potatoes and marshmallows and roast beef that has cooked for 20 hours.
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Thanksgiving in Antwerp: Katherine and Jan have invited all their friends!
Colin Clapson
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Americans are celebrating one of the most important holidays of the year today. Thanksgiving Day traditionally falls on the fourth Thursday of November.
‘It is one of the most beautiful and most enjoyable days of the year,’ says Katherine Shirley. She was born in New York and has been living in Antwerp for a few years now. ‘In the United States, they celebrate all day. Family and friends get together from early in the morning. People chat all day, watch American football and in the evening there is a great feast.’
Katherine and her partner Jan have invited lots of friends over. ‘This year there's no turkey on the menu. But roast beef cooked for twenty-hours is,’ explains Jan Kuijpers. ‘We are making the stuffing that normally goes in the turkey. That is too tasty to omit. I am also making a casserole with sweet potatoes and marshmallows and gravy with cranberries. Dessert is also a classic: sticky toffee pudding.’
‘After dinner, everyone takes time to express their gratitude for something in life. It’s a pretty corny moment, but people sometimes get very emotional. I know what I will be expressing my gratitude about. We are expecting our first child on Christmas Day’ says an excited Jan.