Instead of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I decided to it was time for a change and introduced a little twist to the feast. It was so successful I want to share it with you.

A month before the party I sent a singing telegram dressed as a town crier to the house of each of my guest's inviting them to a 'Day of Thanks' at Lady Martha's castle. The crier gave everyone a roll of parchment on which all the important details were printed. I also requested the guests dress in Medieval costume and be prepared to meet at one of four of the guests houses for a horse drawn coach, which would be arriving to pick them up the night of the party.

The coach picked up the guests in groups at each of the four meeting houses. An actor dressed as a Medieval steward, greeted the guests and showed them inside. My living room had been decorated with back drops and tables and chairs I rented from a theater prop warehouse to look like a Medieval tavern.

The table was set with Medieval, metal plates, spoons, two pronged forks, and metal goblets. There were also heraldic banners hanging from the ceiling. Instead of electric lighting there were dozens of candles all around the room in stained-glass votive holders, metal and glass lanterns and silver candle sticks.

A woodwind quartet performed while a jester entertained the guests with juggling while the guests snacked on appitizers of grilled steak skewers, sliced vegetables, apples and cheese and mini quiches. A servant girl filled the guests goblets with sweet, delectable mead, hard cider, ale, or regular cider .

Dinner was the traditional roasted turkey, but I had found a Medieval recepie for stuffing that called for walnuts, shallots and black currants. I also served candied yams, green beans and asparagus almondine, cranberry and orange relish and cheese with lots of circular loaves of bread. For dessert there was rich, creamy pumpkin pie, creme brule or pecan pie. Everyone was stuffed.

Of course, there were some present who didn't think Thanksgiving was complete without football.Since there was neither foot ball or televisions in Medieval times, the men played two hand touch in the back yard while the ladies cheered them on and the jester refereed. After the teams were chosen, I noticed Uncle Henry was missing. After a quick search we soon found him and the steward in the my den watching a professional game on the television!

The men played touch foot ball to the light of the lawn torches for a while then were lit in the back yard, where we danced to the quartet's music. My guests could have their portrait drawn by an artist. I had also hired a photographer to take candid photos of every-one. It may have been chilly, but our hearts were warm and cozy, mostly due to the amount of mead we drank.

At the closing of the evening, as the guests left my "castle", I gave each of them a container of spices for making mulled Sebastiani wine or cider. Then, the guests were returned to the meeting houses by the horse drawn carriage. I stayed up a while longer to put the food away and clean up.

All of my guests called me to say how much fun they had and how wonderful the evening had been. No one thought you could alter a traditional day like Thanksgiving. They were thankful that I had taken the time to make this Thanksgiving so special.