Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Tal and I were blessed to have my mom visit us for a whole week. During Mom's visit, we spent several days celebrating Thanksgiving with Tal's family in Salter Path, NC.

On the night before Thanksgiving, we ate an authentic Down East dinner with steamed oysters and a low country boil. The low country boil included white potatoes, sweet potatoes, shrimp, corn on the cob, and sausage. Yummy!


In Tal's family, eating oysters at Thanksgiving is an annual tradition--one that Tal always looks forward to and never wants to miss!

As the picture below shows, dinner was kind of a "first-come-first-serve-free-for-all" (in the best sense).

Watching Tal's family eat oysters is a fun experience. First, you fill an 8-inch pie plate with oysters. Then, you use a special tool to shuck the oysters (like Tal is doing in the picture below). Then, you dump the empty oyster shells in one of the five-gallon buckets around the table.

We were proud of Mom for eating oysters for the first time. Mom and I agree that oysters are salty and chewy. Tal's family admits that oysters are an acquired taste, but they love 'em! :-)