Southern

It just doesn't get much more Southern than deep-fried turkey and moonshine.

Thanksgiving was a blast, a brilliant party and a truly memorable occasion. Everyone pitched in on the cooking, and in the final hours before we ate, the kitchen was a maelstrom of drinks pouring, cakes baking, vegetables sizzling, and turkey slicing.

The food was truly incredible--the fried turkey was juicy and flavorful, and only took 45 minutes to cook--and the company even better. Best of all, nobody suffered any terrible burns and no property was damaged during the frying. There was one brief moment of tension when two roommates began to argue over a tight game of foozball, but once the foozball table had been thrown by one friend at the chest of the other, things miraculously seemed to calm down.

After eating, we all sat around, sipping wine and cherry-infused moonshine, playing music and singing. All the while, the fireplace roared cheerfully before us.

For dessert we cooked up some deep fried twinkies (bit of a failure), some fried apple fritters (bit of a success) and a number of pies of differing varieties, shapes and sizes.

It really was inspiring to see this whole group together, as many of us had only just met. In the true spirit of giving thanks, we all sat around the table during dinner, enumerating the things that we were happy for. As we moved around the table, each person was obliged the mention those "thanks" of the people before. Things got a bit confusing at times, although nobody forgot the Cuban man's thanks for "the little sprouts that appear to be growing on [his] bald head."

All in all, the fete was a true success, as all seemed to agree. And now I get to check "eating deep-fried turkey" and "drinking moonshine" off of my "Deep South To-Do List".