Thanksgiving on St. John

[flip-flop]

We will be in St. John in just 224 days!!! One of those days will be Thanksgiving which this year just happens to fall on my mama's birthday!

I would like to do something special for her & our family but am not quite sure of our options. I am open to either doing something at our villa or at a restaurant (though the restaurant would have to be 5 year old and 10 month old friendly).

Does anyone have any suggestions? I am not wedded to a traditional thanksgiving dinner or anything. I am just trying to come up with something creative to celebrate my mama. Man, its amazing how much more you appreciate parents after becoming one

[augie]

Some of the provisions/catering places will do a special dinner at your villa for you.

Sounds like it could fit the bill since the little ones would be "home" if they decided the celebrations were more than they cared for...

Here's just one example http://www.katilady.com/holiday.htm

[flip-flop]

Thanks Steve. That looks Delicious! I'll check into it.

[JT]

Flip Flop, To my dismay,we had to leave 2 days before Thankspigging last year. Everybody talks about Skinny's open house/pot luck Thankspigging dinner. Mrs. JT and I caught so much crap for scheduling our trip to leave before the big event. My 94 y.o. mama-in-law lives alone and we weren't about to let her be alone for Thanksgiving.

[RickG]

Flip Flop, To my dismay,we had to leave 2 days before Thankspigging last year. Everybody talks about Skinny's open house/pot luck Thankspigging dinner. Mrs. JT and I caught so much crap for scheduling our trip to leave before the big event. My 94 y.o. mama-in-law lives alone and we weren't about to let her be alone for Thanksgiving.

There was a lot of talk last Thanksgiving about the Skinny Legs event. Skinnys is closed and this is a pot luck event. I would certainly enjoy it, but the little ones might be a trial.

Personally, I prefer to eat at home when you have little tiny unpredictable people. That being said, my youngest used to routinely fall asleep at La Tapa during dinner, no problem. She made it through dinner last trip without crashing for the first time - she's 9 now. She was 5 months old for Thanksgiving 1997 and we had dinner at The Fish Trap. We started at 5:30PM to accomodate her feeding.

This past year, we cooked at the villa and did a pot luck thing for the 24 of us. I cooked the turkey at home, took the bones out and froze it. It worked out pretty darn well. I sliced then warmed the turkey for an hour at 250 degrees in a disposable aluminum covered by aluminum foil with some chicken broth added. We had some frozen gravy and sides as well. It was one of the easier meals we prepared since most of it was pre-cooked. We were at the beach until 4PM and eating at 7PM.

Cheers, RickG

[Pia]

My family and 14 of their friends were here for Thanksgiving last year and they all went to Banana Deck for the buffet and they said it was fabulous - not many people were there, but they said they would go back in a heartbeat for Thanksgiving

Pia

[flip-flop]

Thanks Guys. Pia - Banana Deck's buffet might work just fine with the kiddos. Not a lot of waiting or formality!

[AnyTing]

A couple of years ago I was looking for something different to do for my husband's birthday while we were on St. John. Someone recommended Mathayom (chef/catering). I opted for a restaurant instead, but still have the link saved. Someone else may be able to give you more info, but the website shows they have chef services or gourmet dinners can be dropped off at your villa. They have menus and prices. Had a kid's menu too. Might be worth a look.

Don't tell Jorge, but they have one item called the "Big Dog."

http://www.stjohncatering.com/

[Pia]

Mathayom is fabulous - he catered our wedding and catered an anniversary dinner - the BEST food ever
Book him early if you plan to use him.

http://stjohncatering.com/

Pia