I am way way behind on blogging. But I will try to make up for it with photos of the Thanksgiving feast! I spent about a week preparing (getting recipes in order, cleaning, prepping, shopping), and two and a half days cooking. This was such a fun Thanksgiving. Previously, I think my favorite Thanksgiving dinner was spent eating samosas in the Sainsbury's department store food court in London, but I think this one has taken its place. (Right-click on photos to view full size.)
Here is the Thanksgiving dinner/coffee table.
With place-settings made from stickers sent by Mom!
Window decals! And see the "Happy Thanksgiving" banner in the reflection!
What is an American holiday without honeycomb paper decorations?
The dinner table centREpiece, sent by Mom.
Truly a thing of beauty. A 3.6kg turkey stuffed and surrounded with onions and celery. The skin is rubbed with olive oil and an assortment of Italian herbs. Delicious!
Clockwise from top left: cornbread muffins made with polenta, bowl o' turkey meat, green bean casserole, salad with baby corn & craisins & almonds & balsamic vinaigrette, stuffing with craisins & nuts & ham, sauteed mushrooms, pan gravy, cranberry sauce, and candied yamsAnd while I finished up with the cooking, I had my guests make hand turkeys! Behold, in all their glory:
My guests let me borrow a pie pan, a salad bowl, and a meat thermometer, and brought some wine and incredibly lovely flowers. I think the meal was a big hit, as it's pretty hard to hate a holiday based around gluttony. I also made mini quiche appetizers, which I sadly did not photograph. They were made with pie crusts, egg, onion, garlic, parmesan, mozzarella, and ham. And I put mini American flags in them! Wooo! Also I mixed together orange juice, Sprite, and cran-apple juice for some punch.
Dessert was a pumpkin pie (with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream), leaf-shaped shortbread cookies made with brown sugar and spices and orange vanilla frosting (and Autumn-shaped sprinkles), and way too much homemade egg nog. I think the egg nog went over well though, so maybe I'll make a smaller batch for Christmas. Sadly, I got no pictures of dessert. Sorry, mom and dad.
It was very sweet to hear what all of my guests were thankful for. Gainful employment, accomplishments in the world of academia, and romance. I was thankful for the exchange rate between the USD and AUD, but remain sympathetic to my Australian friends in their American travels. I have to give a big booming internet shout-out to my dear Jono, who was an invaluable help with the Thanksgiving meal. He came over early on Saturday and kept me sane and ahead of schedule while the yams needed candying and the green beans needed casseroling, and carved the whole turkey for me when I decided it was not something I wanted to do. And if not for him, there would probably still be a half-eaten turkey carcass sitting on my kitchen counter, as he did the lion's share of the after-dinner cleanup. I am thankful for him.
And very thankful to my parents, without whom I would not be here, and I would not be here, enjoying this incredible time in Australia. Thank you for sending me decorations, and giving me advice with the recipes and the cooking, and for being so nice and supportive over the phone and on the other side of the internet when I was stressing out about the meal. You've made it very comfortable for me here with my family on the other side of the Pacific. I look forward to making a Thanksgiving meal for/with you in the future. I'll try to do a better job of keeping up the blog.
My guests let me borrow a pie pan, a salad bowl, and a meat thermometer, and brought some wine and incredibly lovely flowers. I think the meal was a big hit, as it's pretty hard to hate a holiday based around gluttony. I also made mini quiche appetizers, which I sadly did not photograph. They were made with pie crusts, egg, onion, garlic, parmesan, mozzarella, and ham. And I put mini American flags in them! Wooo! Also I mixed together orange juice, Sprite, and cran-apple juice for some punch.
Dessert was a pumpkin pie (with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream), leaf-shaped shortbread cookies made with brown sugar and spices and orange vanilla frosting (and Autumn-shaped sprinkles), and way too much homemade egg nog. I think the egg nog went over well though, so maybe I'll make a smaller batch for Christmas. Sadly, I got no pictures of dessert. Sorry, mom and dad.
It was very sweet to hear what all of my guests were thankful for. Gainful employment, accomplishments in the world of academia, and romance. I was thankful for the exchange rate between the USD and AUD, but remain sympathetic to my Australian friends in their American travels. I have to give a big booming internet shout-out to my dear Jono, who was an invaluable help with the Thanksgiving meal. He came over early on Saturday and kept me sane and ahead of schedule while the yams needed candying and the green beans needed casseroling, and carved the whole turkey for me when I decided it was not something I wanted to do. And if not for him, there would probably still be a half-eaten turkey carcass sitting on my kitchen counter, as he did the lion's share of the after-dinner cleanup. I am thankful for him.
And very thankful to my parents, without whom I would not be here, and I would not be here, enjoying this incredible time in Australia. Thank you for sending me decorations, and giving me advice with the recipes and the cooking, and for being so nice and supportive over the phone and on the other side of the internet when I was stressing out about the meal. You've made it very comfortable for me here with my family on the other side of the Pacific. I look forward to making a Thanksgiving meal for/with you in the future. I'll try to do a better job of keeping up the blog.
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