·

I’m an Aussie, but this is why I love Thanksgiving

The first time I visited the USA I arrived in San Francisco on Thanksgiving day 1991. It was one of the most memorable meals of my life.

Ever since then I’ve hosted a Thanksgiving dinner at home. I love the food, but I also love the opportunity to make time to reflect on the things I’m thankful for. This year you and all my readers are definitely on that list!

When my mum was alive, she always insisted on cooking and hosting Christmas dinner, and Thanksgiving became the meal I hosted. I’d experiment with new side dishes and the ones that were a hit went on to be repeated at Christmas.

This year I’ll be spending my first Christmas away from home, so Thanksgiving will be even more important. I’ve got the turkey defrosting and my menu plan ready for a big day in the kitchen on Wednesday and Thursday. I can’t wait to share some photos with you next week and I’d love to see some of yours too.

What I’m writing

The first draft of my Lady Clues Christmas short story is almost done and I’m also making good progress on the first draft of book two in the Lady Marigold’s 1920s Murder Mystery series.

I’m hoping to get the short story off to the editor before I leave for Europe ,but the next two weeks are going to be super busy as I finish getting my house ready for our house-sitters, host Thanksgiving, finish my day job work for the year, attend my son’s high school graduation events and pack my suitcase!

Coming soon

I had hoped to have the paperback, hardback and large print editions of  A Roaring Murder  available by the end of the year, but I suspect it will be more likely a January project.

What I can share is the artwork for the physical copies of the book. I know I’m biased, but I think my daughter,  Delaney Isabel Design , has done an amazing job once again!

caption for image

This week’s recommendations

Reading

I’m thankful for the authors of 1920s historical mysteries who inspired me to create my  Lady Marigold series , so this week I’d like to recommend some of my favourites:

Watching

Now my son is done with school we’ve been having movie nights again. He’s a history buff and enjoys old movies so last night we watched  The Untouchables . I haven’t seen it in years and didn’t remember it being so violent, but it was still enjoyable.

My daughter and I also enjoyed the most incredible documentary on YouTube. It sounds a bit strange, but it’s about the Disney Channel theme and a quest to find out who wrote it. It was quite emotional in the end, but also great fun seeing all the old Disney channel footage from when my daughter was growing up. It’s called  Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery 

I’m also on tenterhooks waiting for the final episode of season one of  Andor  on Disney Plus. The writing on this show is so good, the acting is fantastic and the music is just beautiful. I can’t wait to see how the story wraps up and  this scene  really deserves an Emmy. Wow!

Cooking

As I said earlier, I’ve got my Thanksgiving menu and prep underway.  What’s Gaby Cooking  is my go-to for recipes and inspiration.

Until next week, I hope all the stories you read are great ones.

Ava