Traditions from the Heartland

Dan and Kendall Drake’s Eastborough home—and their gracious Thanksgiving holiday entertaining—set an example for all of Britain.

It is a well-known fact among Wichitans that when it comes to creatively designing almost anything, Kendall Drake is a genius. Case in point: Almost as a rule, the tables she decorates at Center for the Arts each December are consistently raved over.

Full disclosure—she is also my cousin. Through the years, I’ve witnessed Kendall’s decorating prowess firsthand. When the rest of us were making friendship pins as fast as our bulk-buy tubs of “mixed blues” or “rainbow pastels” would allow, Kendall was haggling with the supplier over just the right shade of chartreuse. While we slept on futons in shabby student apartments at college, Kendall was harvesting antiques from her parents’ home and creating “conversation areas” in her suddenly covetable one-bedroom walk-up. And, when we were more than happy to let the store gift-wrap for us, Kendall’s knockout wrapping creations included ribbon, cardboard boxes and an enormous supply of hot glue.

In short, if something needed to be stylish, chic or made plain on purpose, Kendall was, and remains, the go-to gal. So when Waitrose Food Illustrated, a British magazine for which I sometimes write, asked for an article about an authentic American Thanksgiving—and wanted it photographed during the actual holiday weekend—I knew there was only one person I could call. Convincing Kendall that this was a good idea required a bit of arm-twisting. (Family is family, right?) I could honestly think of no one else more up to the challenge than Kendall.

Fast-forward a month. We were getting down to details. The magazine wanted all the trimmings. They wanted family and kids and generations of partygoers. They wanted turkey, potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie. Never mind that the latter two do not exist in England. Mind you, neither does Thanksgiving.

Just as important, neither does our uniquely New-World style of entertaining. In general, English people entertain in a more formal, European manner. At any British dinner party, even when the guests are twenty-somethings who have only a handful of pence to jingle in their pockets, one should arrive early for drinks. A typical written, not e-mailed, invitation may specify “7 for 7:30.” Loosely translated, this means cocktails will be served until 7:30 p.m. Come late, and expect no pre-dinner drink.

You will be served a “starter” (United Kingdom-talk for appetizer), or “first course,” if you’re being proper. You will eat several courses and will always, without exception, finish with a “sweet” or dessert, which will probably precede a dessert wine, port, brandy or just more drinks, depending on the host’s wallet and age group.

So, bearing in mind America’s one-plate style of dinner partying, and our shameful but ever-growing holiday tendency to leave the game on during the meal, you can see that we were already off to a rocky start.

Complicated and interesting e-mails went back and forth across the Atlantic: Why couldn’t we include a recipe for a starter? (Obvious answer: more food might kill the guests). The traditional green-bean recipe that calls for dried onions in a can was immediately kicked back. (The managing editor said it sounded “frightening” which, on closer inspection, it does a bit.) Instead of pumpkin for the pie, could we substitute common or garden squash? And are lardons (cube-shaped pieces of bacon) available in the States?

The family would arrive from distant points. Kendall’s sister, Kathryn, arrived from Los Angeles, where she is an ex-reality-star-turned-successful-screenwriter. Their brother, Bo, came in from Hollywood, where he makes his career as an editor. The photographer and I liaised about Waitrose’s expectations. And I began to internalize some pretty serious stress about doing a major photo shoot on location where my family would not only see it but also star in it, and where I wouldn’t arrive until the night before, laden with uncooked food.

Meanwhile, Kendall set about creating an unbelievably gorgeous setting for the shoot that included expertly placed flowers, centerpieces, a catering company’s-worth of serving dishes, and leaf piles in front of the playhouse. Only days before, they’d been cleaned up and placed in bags for disposal. (“Okay, the neighbors officially think we’re crazy,” Kendall’s husband, Dan, remarked.)

So professional was the outcome that the photographer, Kenny Johnson, who was taking photos for Waitrose (and who is not easily impressed) took one look at the setup and asked, “Who does Kendall work for? I want her card.”

In the end, everything happened without a hitch—except that the family had to eat potatoes at 4 p.m., which had been piping hot at 10:45 a.m., and the entire clan spent the Thanksgiving holiday listening to me say things like, “Pass that stuffing! One more time! Can we get a light on the cream over there? Can everyone move into the living room again for another pre-dinner drink shot? Yes, I know it’s dark outside.”

The kids and grown-ups wore down after what seemed like a million hours of shooting. Of course, they were all great sports, and looked wonderful for the magazine.

I’m grateful to them all for giving up their more typically laid-back Thanksgiving holiday. And, I’m proud to say that the entire British Isles will now think of Wichita when they picture a traditional American Thanksgiving. You know, cold turkey really isn’t too bad. Maybe we’ll make it a tradition…it’ll be a family thing.