Clay Grubb, a dear friend of mine, e-mailed me that if I couldn’t be home for Thanksgiving then Monte-Carlo was the next best place. I think he’s right. Still I longed for a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey and trimmings. I had hoped this would take me a little closer to home.

Jim found Le Texan serving ‘traditional Thanksgiving’ and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner together. We also called my family and his during dinner – if you can’t be with them, call. There was even a strolling guitarist playing country music – songs we both know from Alabama and North Carolina.

The funniest part of the evening was learning how Monte-Carlo defines a ‘traditional Thanksgiving’ meal. Our menu consisted of sangria and chips and salsa to start. Then a huge plate of turkey with stuffing/dressing (which tasted exactly like the sangria), roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, green peas with bacon, pearl onions in a white cream sauce and cornbread. We drank Beaujolais nouveau to accompany our ‘traditional’ meal. For dessert I had pecan pie with ice cream and Jim ate a brownie with ice cream. We swapped desserts midway since both were fabulous.

No matter how we define a traditional, perfect meal, someone else defines it differently. Since I love chips and salsa, I gained a new tradition for my future Thanksgivings.