Gadie's in Aberdeenshire are hosting their first Thanksgiving meal Robin Baird grew up and relished these occasions in her native Maryland, long before she moved to Scotland nearly 20 years ago. But now, as the owner of Gadie's Restaurant in Ryehill in Aberdeenshire, the irrepressible Baird is hosting her inaugural Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. And, in a twist worthy of a Frank Capra movie, the 60 diners who have booked for the grand occasion won't be paying a fixed price for their meal, but will be donating what they think it is worth to the homeless charity, The Cyrenians. When you put together a Robin and a brood of turkeys, you might expect a frenzy of activity. But, befitting somebody with the attitude that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains, Baird speaks passionately about her involvement in this project. She told STV: " This is special, this is something I have been thinking about doing for a while [Gadie's opened in 2007], and now I have the courage to go ahead with it. Thanksgiving is obviously part of our folklore back home. But why not spread the message in Scotland as well? Why should we need any more excuse to celebrate a holiday than just darn good food? We are just doing the one sitting on Thursday, but we are holding other events on Friday - with a jazz band - and Saturday [which will merge with St Andrew's Day]. I am really looking forward to it, because I regard both these countries as my home. There will, of course, be no shortage of turkey for those with large appetites and lashings of pumpkin pie for dessert. But Baird believes the cementing of the trans-Atlantic alliance is as important as providing scran for hungry diners. She said: " Though I miss my home in America, especially at this time of coming together at Thanksgiving, I feel extremely blessed to call Scotland home. My friend, Norman Kennedy, who was born in Aberdeen, but now lives in Vermont, says there are two homes for him - his head home and his heart home. I understand this so well. So I invite you all to come, share, reflect and enjoy [from Thursday to Saturday]. It might be a unique Stateside festival. But this Robin is flying ahead with her plans to make it part of the Caledonian cultural scene. Further information is available on their Facebook page