Thanksgiving in Shanghai

We started our Thanksgiving with flowers and oranges. The oranges here taste fantastic, and we eat a lot of them. Our apartment often smells of tea and oranges.

Then we talked with family in Dallas via Skype. That's Parker's cousin Allie, who was born in China.

Our friends, Andrew and Hillary, came over for dinner. Andrew is a former student of Peter's who's working for an architect here in Shanghai. He and Hillary met the first time we took students to China, back in 2008 when Parker was in first grade. 

A lot of the Shanghai restaurants do Thanksgiving specials, but Parker thought we ought to have Thanksgiving dinner at home, so we did our best. 

I made pumpkin soup with ginger shrimp to start.

Instead of turkey, Andrew and Hillary brought a Chinese duck. It wasn't as big as a turkey, but it was certainly delicious.

We had steamed clams and spinach (the clams are great here).

Corn on the cob (the corn is just O.K).

And Parker's favorite – french fries. It was easier to make french fries in the wok than mashed potatoes. Plus, we were low on butter and you have to go all the way across town to get it.

We saved the best for last – Hillary's apple pie. Sweet and buttery and utterly delicious! Chinese food is wonderful, but it sure is hard to beat a good apple pie. We have a lot to be thankful for.