Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m sure it dawned on all of you that Thanksgiving is an American holiday. But we couldn’t miss out on the opportunity for a big meal, so we decided to have some friends over to share our American Thanksgiving meal.

The first challenge came in setting a day/time when our guests could all make it over to our place. Cory has three co-workers that he has worked closely with that he really likes. All three are also leaving for new placements at the end of November. The guys and their wives have been very kind and accommodating in our first few months here, so sharing a meal with them really was to be a “thank you” of sorts (assuming, of course, that the meal turned out well and I didn’t give anyone food poisoning). After many phone calls and a few schedule changes, it was settled.

Both Cory and I love throwing parties, but they tend to be very casual (“food is in the kitchen and drink are on the deck – help yourself”). I’d not hosted a sit-down meal for eight before. The second challenge came in figuring out how to seat eight when you really are only set-up for six. Luckily our outdoor table and chairs scrubbed up acceptably, and the Warehouse has inexpensive plates and silverware. The local op-shop (Salvation Army) had serving pieces for a reasonable amount as well. Whew!

I really wanted to do a traditional meal. Maybe this is par for the course, but both my family and Cory’s family tend to have the same/similar menu from year-to-year and I really wanted to make some of those customary dishes. Now, I’ve made most of those dishes before, but not all at the same time, so I knew that alone would be another challenge. Plus, daringly, I told Cory I would make his mom’s famous dinner rolls. This is Cory’s favorite part of any holiday meal cooked by Karen, and, while I wanted to make them for him, I knew I was also setting myself up for the potential for a great failure! Oh, the pressure…

I also needed to find a turkey. For whatever reason, turkey in any form is not very common around New Zealand. We’ve seen several live turkeys in the hillsides when driving, but there is no turkey lunch meat at the deli and I’d not seen whole turkeys in the freezer section at any of the grocery stores. I’d heard about a website where you could order them to be delivered to you, but they didn’t start delivering until December 1st – and we’d all ready invited everyone for November 16th! Uh, oops. But I got lucky – unbelievably, the grocery store had 3 turkeys in their freezer section! I was also able to find cranberries there, too.

The menu had been set – turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, creamed corn casserole, baked squash with apples, gravy, rolls, cranberry-orange relish, pumpkin bars, strawberries, and chocolates. I had to get Mom and Dad to email me several recipes and had to call on Karen for others. (This included the famous roll recipe which began with “At 4:30, dissolve the yeast…” and was then further broken down into half-hour to hourly segments. What had I gotten myself into!?)

When in doubt, plan meticulously. This has sort of been my mantra as a teacher and it carried over well to my cooking. I mapped out what I could make in advance and started several days before the big meal, making pumpkin bars and several casseroles a few days in advance. I saved the rolls for the night before, and saved the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy (I cheated and used a packet – I hate gravy), and cranberry-orange relish for the big day.

Remarkably, this meant the day of the meal was mostly stress-free. My biggest concern was locating the neck of the turkey which was inexplicably missing from the carcass of the bird. This didn’t really concern me, as I had no intention of using it for anything, but I did sort of think I should find it before someone else did. Cory’s surgeon skills were put to use carving, which was a great help. And miraculously, all the dishes were the appropriate temperature and the appropriate time. (I just knew one of my casseroles was going to be cold in the middle when everything else was ready.)

The much-anticipated rolls even turned out okay. I think they were a little tougher in consistency than Karen’s usually are, but I had to mix the last half of the flour in by hand which may have stressed the dough a little (my poor mixer couldn’t handle the job). Cory was kind and said they were just right.

The tables looked nice enough, all set for dinner. I forgot to offer anyone anything to drink and failed to pour water for people, but they seemed to fend for themselves just fine. Jason kept asking if we were doing things according to tradition, and I reassured him that the only tradition that was important once the eating commenced was that you go back for seconds. It seems most of the guys did, so I guess that was a good sign.

Cory and I have just about made it through what leftovers there were. He was happy to have some extra turkey and I have been mixing cranberry-orange relish in with my yogurt (and may be for many days to come)! Everyone was very complimentary of the meal, but you never know if that is just good manners or actual enjoyment. In either case, I'll take it.

This Thursday, Thanksgiving proper, will be spent, coincidentally, dining with friends again. When you are away from home for such a holiday, the most you can ask for is good people to share it with…

Happy Movember!

Perhaps I should comment on my photo, “Happy Movember.” No, this is not a typo; we are truly celebrating Movember here in New Zealand. Movember is derived from mo, which is short for moustache, and November, the month to recognize men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer awareness. To show their support, men all over New Zealand sport a mo or some other unattractive form of facial hair. The Orthopaedic Department at Tauranga Hospital has adopted this tradition, and this year have modified the theme to be “Into the Wild” and therefore have opted for beards (at least those of us who can grow one, sorry Jason). A month of ridicule for my scraggly beard is worth it to support such a worthy cause. At the end of the month (which can’t come soon enough according to Erin) we will be judged, photographed, and eventually shaved. The photographs are put together in a calendar and sold. Proceeds are then donated to supporting charities. So next November, embrace your manliness, pitch the razor, and support Movember with your very own mo.