Does Costa Rica celebrate Thanksgiving? Well, Costa Rica wasn’t involved (as far as I can tell) in the first American Thanksgiving (or the Canadian one for that matter). They didn’t have a seat at the table with the Pilgrims or with the Wampanoag Native Americans, but this holiday has become an OFFICIAL Costa Rican holiday as of 2022. Día de Acción de Gracias, or day of the act of giving of thanks, as it is called here, is certainly growing in popularity… a day to join together with friends and family, share a meal, and reflect upon that which you are thankful.
Restaurants are gearing up and planning for delicious Thanksgiving meals for tourists and folks that have taken up residence here from afar. The day also signifies the unofficial beginning of tourist season in Costa Rica, which also coincides with the general end of the rainy season here.
What are you all doing for Thanksgiving? Do you prepare a big meal and share with family and friends or take quiet time to reflect in gratitude and appreciation?
We typically do a quiet Thanksgiving at home, comprised of a variety of homestead ingredients… and since we don’t eat poultry (other than fresh eggs from our hens), we tend toward a homestead fish meal, complete with lots of sides. The guys did a little fishing from our tilapia pond, so we are planning for a tilapia feast for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow!
Todd also dug some papa chiricana, which our son Toby and I are planning to convert to some tasty mashed “potatoes” with lots of garlic chives. Yum!
What is papa chiricana?
Beyond that, we will prepare other goodies from the homestead, using our lettuce, kale, tomatoes, green beans, eggs, eggfruit, limes, guayabilla, and other items to make a tasty homestead meal. I also made some crusty sourdough dinner rolls I can’t wait to dig into!
What’s on your plate tomorrow? Will you do the traditional turkey and dressing or opt for something else?
If you are looking for a tasty and unique side dish (ready for dipping in gravy even 😋), have you tried my okra hush puppies?
Looking for a new Thanksgiving side dish?
I made a batch today, which we stuffed into my beer flatbread (recipe here) along with a few garden veggies and a delicious spicy yogurt sauce! You should give them a try!
Well, in whatever form you celebrate the day, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with much love and joy!
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