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Traditional Thanksgiving Feast
Farewell

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Start the festive season early by celebrating Thanksgiving at The Old Vicarage -- the favourite holiday of most Americans. It is traditionally celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.  At The Old Vicarage Thanksgiving dinner will be served on Thursday, November 26th and Saturday, November 28th.  One-, 2- and 3-night stays are available Wednesday through Sunday, November 25th to 29th.

Thanksgiving is a time to gather round the table with family and friends, enjoy good food and be thankful for life's bounty.  No presents to buy, no cards to send, no trail of drinks parties to attend -- just a day of delicious food and jovial fellowship.

Judith Adams, an American ex-pat settled in rural England, finds that Thanksgiving-time stirs up the most nostalgia for her childhood in the US.  She has never found a restaurant in England that serves a proper home-cooked Thanksgiving feast so she now offers her own sumptuous, traditional American Thanksgiving dinner at her luxurious Old Vicarage in Warwickshire.

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The original part of her home dates back to the early 1600s, before the Pilgrims set sail, and is older than any house in America, a fact that continually astonishes her. Homesick Americans and curious British are equally welcome at the elegant table at the Old Vicarage. Judith has been searching out turkey plates for years -- some of them are one-off originals. She brings out her rare finds at Thanksgiving and every guest dines on a different turkey design.
 
The six-course meal has nearly thirty different dishes. This dinner can not be rushed; guests spend hours savouring this American classic. It features food that the Pilgrims discovered in the New World: turkey, sweet potatoes, wild rice, cranberries, pecans, corn and pumpkin. Judith and her husband David create the feast using produce from their garden and local suppliers as well as some authentic American imports. Every dish is freshly made in their large farmhouse kitchen.
 
The celebration starts with nibbles and a drink which Judith created and calls Thanksgiving Dinner Punch because it has Wild Turkey bourbon and cranberry juice amongst its ingredients.
 
This is followed by bowls of steaming spicy apple soup served with a variety of “breads”: cranberry orange nut bread, pumpkin nut bread, zucchini carrot bread and corn bread sticks made in moulds shaped like small ears of corn. Next is a course of salads with tasty combinations of greens, fruits and dressings.
 
A large free-range turkey is the centrepiece of the meal and is so traditionally a part of Thanksgiving that Americans do not eat turkey for Christmas. Judith’s stuffing is made with apples, onions, celery, water chestnuts, cranberries, cider and bread. The colourful main course also includes white rice, dark brown wild rice, wild mushrooms, orange-coloured sweet potatoes baked in half orange shells, and the soft green of a broccoli ring mould made with duxelles and cream.
 
Accompanying the turkey are tantalising relishes and chutneys: cranberry and orange relish, cranberry sauce with caramelised red onions, pumpkin chutney, whole cranberry sauce, cranberry and pear relish.
 
The selection of desserts includes pumpkin pie, pecan pie, almond cheese cake and pumpkin crème brulée. There is time between courses to hear the story of the first Thanksgiving and the meal finishes with coffee, tea and petit fours.
 
The late American humorist and columnist Art Buchwald famously explained Thanksgiving to the French as the one day of the year that the Americans eat better than the French. Thanksgiving at The Old Vicarage is a rare opportunity to experience American festive food at its best.

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Booking Information
 
Thanksgiving dinner is served on Thursday, November 26th and Saturday November 28th.  One night stay is Thursday or Saturday and includes dinner, bed and breakfast.  From £110 per person based on two sharing and depending on room selected.  Second and third nights on B&B basis with a special 20% discount.  For enquiries and bookings please telephone 01327 262626 or email: info@theoldvicarage.com
 

During a Thanksgiving break at The Old Vicarage you can:

 

  1. Have your own supercar driving experience around the Silverstone racing circuit
  2. Try your hand at clay pigeon shooting, with professional instruction and equipment provided.
  3. Pick up fashion bargains at Bicester Shopping Village and the shoe factory shops in Northampton or browse through the many antique shops and markets in the area.
  4. Visit Warwick Castle, Kenilworth Castle and Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon.
  5. Visit stately homes before they close for the winter:  Canon’s Ashby, Sulgrave Manor, Farnborough Hall, Charlecote Park, Princess Diana’s home at Althorp, Upton House, Stoneleigh Abbey or Wroxton Abbey.
  6. Walk along the towpaths of the canal network, stopping for lunch at a canal side pub.
  7. Play golf at Hellidon Lakes or Staverton courses.
  8. Do the three-river ramble, an 8-mile circular walk to the sources of the Leam, the Nene and the Cherwell, which flow into three different seas.
  9. Have a meal at one of the local village pubs or at the nearby famous Butchers Arms restaurant.
  10. Explore motoring history at the National Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon and the Coventry Museum of British Road Transport.