Thanksgiving Down Under

Although I completely understand why, I have to admit that I was still a bit thrown off that Thanksgiving wasn’t celebrated here in Australia.  How U.S.-centric of me, right?  But I mean really, why Aussie’s wouldn’t celebrate this American holiday is just beyond me.  But so are a lot of things here.  Anyway, needless to say, the actual DAY of Thanksgiving was quite underwhelming- no day off, no Macy’s day parade, no turkey, etc.

The day after Thanksgiving here- which was actually Thanksgiving day in the U.S. (welcome to my life of adding/subtracting hours and working out being a day ahead of everyone), was a little more exciting since I got to video chat with lots of my friends and family during their Thanksgiving festivities.   I love run-on sentences.  And fragments.  Lauren, can you correct that for me? Or maybe you better not.  My parents and brother spent Thanksgiving outside of Philadelphia with some of my mom’s extended family.  It was so fun to talk to everyone and see everyone thanks to FaceTime.  But I won’t deny that it made me pretty sad at the same time.  On this day 14,000 miles seemed EXTRA far away.  I promptly called my sister in Washington to commiserate that neither of us were there.  I also got to talk to my grandma and my dad’s extended family back in Phoenix.  I love you FaceTime and Google Video Chat!

 

To distract myself from being a little homesick, I got started on my long list of items that needed preparation for the Friendsgiving dinner David and I were hosting on Sunday.  This was my first time hosting Thanksgiving (or any type of gathering with a meal really), and man it was seriously a lot of work!  Add to that some difficulty in finding typical Thanksgiving dish ingredients and the world’s smallest oven, and I was definitely a little more than stressed about the whole thing.  Here are some of the dishes I made in progress:

Pioneer Woman Dinner Rolls - Definitely underestimated the amount the dough would rise!

Cinnamon Toasted Almonds, Pie Crusts, Stuffing, Gravy

My favorite apple pie! (Forgot to get a picture after it baked)

I was most nervous about the turkey.  It just seemed like such a daunting task.  I regretted not helping or at least watching my mom prep the turkey all those years.  I tend to get a bit squeamish with raw meat, so I always just avoided that part.  Well anyway, with a little (ok a lot) of help from my mom, my sister, my friend Anne who is an amazing cook, YouTube, and a few other websites, I am happy to report that my turkey turned out great!  I actually made two turkeys, since the largest turkey I could find was 10 pounds- and we were having 15 people over.  I made one the night before and the other the day of.  So glad I did it that way!

Being grossed out at the prospect of getting up close and personal with this raw turkey.  

 

Turkey 1 and Turkey 2 (stuffed) - both successes!

Carved turkeys

Our guests also brought either a favorite side dish or dessert, so we had TONS of food!  Here’s a look at the spread:

Desserts

And everyone appropriately stuffing their faces:

 

 

I’d say it was a success! 

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend with friends and family!   

Here are some of the recipes I used if anyone’s interested:

Pioneer Woman Dinner Rolls: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/pw_dinner_rolls_-_no_kneading_required/

Pioneer Woman Gravy:
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/10/turkey_gravy_baby/

Pioneer Woman Whiskey Glazed Carrots:http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/whiskey-glazed-carrots-major-league-yum/

Bon Appetite Herb Roasted Turkey:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/11/herb-roasted-turkey

Martha Stewart Pie Crusts:

http://www.marthastewart.com/343815/pate-brisee

Martha Stewart Pumpkin Mousse Pie:
http://www.marthastewart.com/864305/icebox-pumpkin-mousse-pie

And a few other recipes that I’m probably forgetting or that don’t have a web link…