I know this post is super late but wanted to document this important holiday...
We had a really nice time. We hosted about 15 people on the Saturday after American Thanksgiving, including three families mainly related to my husband's work. I got off relatively easy this year since I was offered so much help. I only ended up making the turkey, gravy, green beans with toasted almonds and dried cranberries, cream cheese corn, whole wheat butterhorns (pictured below), pumpkin pie (made with our local squash) and whipped cream. I decided to opt out of making stuffing this year and I didn't miss it.
Thanks to my dear friend Lonna, who made these for our very first Thanksgiving in Thailand, whole wheat butterhorns are now a Thanksgiving staple. They are so delicious. I make tons so I can throw the extras in the freezer and we can eat them for weeks after. I just ate the last one tonight.
If there was ever a time when I felt compelled to pray over my oven and my turkey it was this Thanksgiving. I seriously thought I was going to have my first Turkey Day disaster. My oven is small so the only way my turkey roasting pan would fit was by putting it in length-wise. When I tested it without the turkey it seemed to fit just enough to where I could close the door. But when the turkey was all ready to go and I went to put it in, the door only nearly closed and must have been open by a few millimeters. It was just enough to let hot air escape. Well, gauging by the fact that with a gas oven it is really hard to keep the heat up when you open the door, I was worried. Visions of my guests vomiting violently from food poisoning the day after they ate turkey at my house cooked in a leaky oven plagued me. So this is what I did.
I closed the oven and let it get as hot as it would get - about 450 degrees F. This took way too long and I was beginning to stress about my turkey getting done on time. Once it was as hot as possible, I quickly opened the door, threw the turkey in (with the thickest part toward the back of the oven), placed the oven thermometer on top of the turkey near the door, closed the door as far as it would go, stuck foil in all the cracks surrounding the door, then anxiously ordered everyone in my house to stay away from the oven and don't you dare open it!
Then I sat on a stool staring at the oven thermometer drop and keep dropping down to 325 degrees. Thank God it stabilized at 325. But it was still low enough to make me stress, since the turkey is supposed to cook at 350 degrees. But I hoped that if it was 325 in the front of the oven then the back of the oven should be hotter than that. That was the time I was compelled to pray over my turkey. Oh Lord, I know this is so silly and so not important in the big scheme of things and I feel so silly even asking this but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let my oven stay hot enough and let my turkey cook well and not make anyone sick, oh and it would be really great if it was cooked on time for dinner!
Everything worked out in the end. My turkey was perfectly cooked and it was on time! (It actually took less time than I thought, which meant my oven got hot enough and stayed hot.) It was my Turkey Day miracle.
Sadly, I didn't get any decent photos of the actual gathering after the food was done but thanks to my friend Hannah, I have a few to share.
Slicing up the bird
Apparently it's not a good idea to shake hot gravy and flour in a closed container, as you can tell by the mess on my top.
In addition to what I made, friends brought glazed carrots, a salad, wine, beer and sparkling cider, apple pie, ice cream, and the most amazing potato dish I ever had called potato passion. Oh man it was delish. It was just the right amount of food.
I had fun making place cards for our guests, although you can't really see them in this photo.
We had a really nice time. We hosted about 15 people on the Saturday after American Thanksgiving, including three families mainly related to my husband's work. I got off relatively easy this year since I was offered so much help. I only ended up making the turkey, gravy, green beans with toasted almonds and dried cranberries, cream cheese corn, whole wheat butterhorns (pictured below), pumpkin pie (made with our local squash) and whipped cream. I decided to opt out of making stuffing this year and I didn't miss it.
Thanks to my dear friend Lonna, who made these for our very first Thanksgiving in Thailand, whole wheat butterhorns are now a Thanksgiving staple. They are so delicious. I make tons so I can throw the extras in the freezer and we can eat them for weeks after. I just ate the last one tonight.
If there was ever a time when I felt compelled to pray over my oven and my turkey it was this Thanksgiving. I seriously thought I was going to have my first Turkey Day disaster. My oven is small so the only way my turkey roasting pan would fit was by putting it in length-wise. When I tested it without the turkey it seemed to fit just enough to where I could close the door. But when the turkey was all ready to go and I went to put it in, the door only nearly closed and must have been open by a few millimeters. It was just enough to let hot air escape. Well, gauging by the fact that with a gas oven it is really hard to keep the heat up when you open the door, I was worried. Visions of my guests vomiting violently from food poisoning the day after they ate turkey at my house cooked in a leaky oven plagued me. So this is what I did.
I closed the oven and let it get as hot as it would get - about 450 degrees F. This took way too long and I was beginning to stress about my turkey getting done on time. Once it was as hot as possible, I quickly opened the door, threw the turkey in (with the thickest part toward the back of the oven), placed the oven thermometer on top of the turkey near the door, closed the door as far as it would go, stuck foil in all the cracks surrounding the door, then anxiously ordered everyone in my house to stay away from the oven and don't you dare open it!
Then I sat on a stool staring at the oven thermometer drop and keep dropping down to 325 degrees. Thank God it stabilized at 325. But it was still low enough to make me stress, since the turkey is supposed to cook at 350 degrees. But I hoped that if it was 325 in the front of the oven then the back of the oven should be hotter than that. That was the time I was compelled to pray over my turkey. Oh Lord, I know this is so silly and so not important in the big scheme of things and I feel so silly even asking this but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let my oven stay hot enough and let my turkey cook well and not make anyone sick, oh and it would be really great if it was cooked on time for dinner!
Everything worked out in the end. My turkey was perfectly cooked and it was on time! (It actually took less time than I thought, which meant my oven got hot enough and stayed hot.) It was my Turkey Day miracle.
Sadly, I didn't get any decent photos of the actual gathering after the food was done but thanks to my friend Hannah, I have a few to share.
Slicing up the bird
Apparently it's not a good idea to shake hot gravy and flour in a closed container, as you can tell by the mess on my top.
I had fun making place cards for our guests, although you can't really see them in this photo.
3 comments:
Sounds like a great Thanksgiving Day! I'm thankful your turkey turned out wonderful in the midst of the oven drama.
Glad everything turned out well! I've been reading backwards and catching up.
I wonder if it's just being Filipina in general that makes good travelers. Our girls travel really well too, and for the most part as long as we're around, they just go with the flow.
Blessings!
Deborah
Looks like a wonderful Thanksgiving...i like that...Turkey Day Miracle!
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