Not Your Typical Black Friday Newsletter
Surprise! We're not here to sell you anything.
Just like us, Black Friday has roots in Philadlphia. Also like us, Black Friday has changed over the years.
Black Friday apparently became a thing in the 1950s. That’s when Philly police had to control shopping crowds that got rowdy the day after Thanksgiving. Back then, the phrase had a negative connotation. (Many, including us, assume that the term was coined by bookeepers but that’s only part of the story.) It took a while but the current version of Black Friday became a shopping event in the 1980s when stores like Best Buy and Walmart embraced both the phrase and the concept.
When we were kids, Black Friday was the day when stores would have their biggest holiday sales for things like video games and the hot toy of the year. We still remember the droves of people who would arrive at stores two hours before dawn just to get their hands on a Cabbage Patch Doll or a Tickle-me Elmo.
It’s different today since most people shop online. Plus, over the years, Black Friday has gone international. And no, they don’t call it Sexta-Feira Preta in Portugal or Vendredi Noir in France. It’s called Black Friday in every corner of the world.
We did a doubletake in 2016, while staying in Girona, when we saw Black Friday signs dotting the Spanish streetscape like signs for tapas. The US may be the only country that celebrates Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November but Black Friday is universal. However, not all the day’s signage is the same.
Most sale signs say Black Friday but others say Black November since Black Friday is no longer limited to a single day. We’ve been getting emails for weeks alerting us to sales for things we didn’t realize we needed. And they’re not just for Black Friday - there’s also Prime Day, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. Maybe all these days should be combined and called Open Your Wallet November instead.
We had those thoughts last night as we wandered past the Black Friday sale signs on the way to our intimate ‘Thanksgiving dinner’ inside Centro Comercial Colombo, the Iberia Peninsula’s largest mall.
No cooking. No small talk. No tryptophan food coma. Just steak, fries, wine and dessert, all served with white gloves. It sounded good when we came up with the idea and it was just as good as we expected. No, it was great.
We’ve had so many special holiday dinners over the years - many with our families, some with friends and others during our travels. This year, however, we decided to skip the formalities and treat ourselves to a restaurant dinner at one of the bizarrely formal French ‘Entrecôte’ steak houses that exist all over Europe. This one we went to hides in plain sight on the nice side of the Colombo mall’s sprawling food court.
However, after seeing all the pictures on social media as well as a wonderful photo forwarded by Mindi’s sister, we’re thinking of heading back to the states next year for Thanksgiving. It’s been nine years since we became digital nomads and six years since we celebrated Turkey Day with our families. It turns out that we miss both the holiday experience and the holiday food. Black Friday shopping however, not so much.
Dish of the Week - Olive Cheese Balls
We’ve been making cheesy olive balls for years. It’s a holiday go-to as well as a wonderful dish to serve on any appetizer spread.
We originally found the recipe years ago in our yellow Gourmet Cookbook, the anthology of recipes edited by Ruth Reichl and published in 2004. These balls, which are essentially pimento olives breaded and baked with a cheddar pastry crust, were popular during the 1950s and still taste great today.
Drink of the Week - Boozy Bourbon Eggnog
It’s beginning feel a lot like the holidays and not just because of Black Friday - we’ve started experimenting with festive drink recipes in anticipation of our traditional Christmas dinner in London next month. (Yes, while we went rogue for Thanksgiving this year, we’re fully embracing the next big holiday.)
We’re curious to see what drinks we come up with this year though it will be difficult to beat the bourbon eggnog recipe that we created during the pandemic. While our original recipe was intended for two people, we made a batch for friends last year and it was just as tasty (and boozy!) as we remembered.
New on the Website - The Best Instant Noodles
As we mentioned in a recent newletter, we’ve spent much of November slurping instant noodles. So. Many. Instant. Noodles. We never got bored and we never slurped a bowl that we didn’t like.
If you haven’t eaten instant noodles since you were in college, it’s time to try them again. As the expression goes, they’ve come a long way, baby.
Yeseterday, we published a guide to our 33 favorites. Yes, that’s a lot of flavors. And, no, we’re still not bored. In fact, we slurped a couple bowls for lunch today.
Links We’re Liking
If you think there’s just one kind of Portuguese wine, think again. | Wine Spectator
This Starbucks has an interesting view → North Korea. | CNN
Book bars are now a thing in NYC. | New York Times (gifted)
Deal Alerts
We said that we weren’t going to sell you anthing in this Black Friday newsletter and we stand by that promise. However, we want to bring a couple deals to you attention. There’s no pressure - we promise.
Our favorite food tour company is having a Black Friday sale. All Devour food tours are 15% off if you book with this link before midnight EST on December 2nd. We’ve personally taken Devour tours in Barcelona, Lisbon, Madrid, Naples, Paris, Rome & Seville and they’ve all been great.
The 15% Heymondo travel insurance discount is also valid through December 2nd. We mentioned this deal last week and it’s a good one. Here’s the link.
Until next week,
Daryl & Mindi