Although my original plans were to return home for Thanksgiving, my company had a different plan in mind, and I ended up spending my first ever Turkey day away from home. I’m not easily deterred though, so despite my locale, I was going to have turkey one way or another. I decided to team up with Chris, a fellow American co-worker who was also unable to return to the states for the holiday, and we began our plans to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our Aussie co-workers. There's Chris playing guitar at his place.
Our menu consisted of the usual suspects – turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie. Chris is a fellow Cajun, so we added shrimp etoufee and gumbo to the menu to pay homage to our roots. We also assigned a few dishes for our co-workers to bring – salads, pastas, and even a brave attempt at a homemade pecan pie. Shopping for this menu was a bit tricky, given that a) Melbourne stores close very early, and b) Australia doesn’t have canned pumpkin, French Fried onion rings, or karo syrup. But after an early morning trip to the market and a shipment from USAfoods.com, we were set to start cooking.
Between 2 kitchens and 15 people, Thanksgiving with my Australian family was a success! And I must say, I was quite proud of my turkey! To the left – big Tom, pre-oven. To the right – big Tom, maple roasted.
And there is JFK, having a crack at the turkey leg. I think he might have been quite full after that attempt. A great time was had by everyone, and I was once again reminded why Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays – no matter where you are or who you are with, it’s a tradition with a pure heart. Of course, as our Australian co-workers put it, who besides Americans would celebrate a whole day dedicated to food!
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