Monday, January 12, 2015

An Australian American Thanksgiving

Every blog I write is usually 1-2 months behind.  I was really good at this when I started, but have become quite the slacker.

This year I hosted my very first Thanksgiving.  (Does that officially make me an adult?) It originally started as a small dinner party of five but quickly grew to a party of 18 (14 adults and 4 kiddos with people from Australia, America, Canada, New Zealand, and Switzerland).  In my very recent past, kitchens and recipes and cooking scared me.  However, I spent the previous 10 months improving my cooking skills so I, strangely, felt completely calm cooking this massive meal.

The preparations began about 5 days out with sourcing a turkey and ham, creating a menu, and then shopping.  I started cooking 3 days out.  By the time Thanksgiving rolled around everything was ready and Pete, who came up from Sydney, Kevala, who flew in from Melbourne, and I went and relaxed on the beach for a bit in the afternoon.  After we came back it was time to get ready and finish setting up tables, chairs, etc.

Everyone enjoyed dinner (or so they said) and after dinner we took a stroll around the neighborhood.  After a lovely evening walk it was time for dessert... mmm dessert.  Then the evening came to an end.  As incredible as it would have been to have pulled this off alone, I definitely didn't.  Bee let me throw a dinner party at her house, friends brought food, drinks, extra plates, and most importantly hungry tummies and good company.  For my first Thanksgiving, it was a smashing success.   

The full spread included:

Pre-dinner Nibbles
Cheese and Crackers
Olives
Roasted Tomatoes
Different Spreads/Dips

Main
Turkey
Ham
Creamed Corn
Funeral Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Honey Glazed Carrots
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
Mac and Cheese
Beetroot Salad
Stuffing
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Cranberry Sauce

Dessert
Pumpkin Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

Cocktails
Cranberry Juice, Ginger Ale, Apple Juice, and Vodka with Lime
Champagne and Cranberry Juice with Lime


Let the cooking begin



I'm usually a pretty clean chef... this picture shows otherwise



The turkey brine is cooling on the left, the beets are
boiling in the center and the bread is drying out for the stuffing



Our fridge was packed and I borrowed
some space in a neighbors fridge.



Pete helping out in the kitchen



Backyard turned dining room



It was Spring in Australia so a picnic Thanksgiving was perfect



The BBQ was turned into a cocktail cart



The kids table

Of course the adults made themselves comfy at the kid's table




Champagne and Cranberry Juice Cocktail... and Pete's nose



Me bartending away making the Cranberry Juice,
Ginger Ale, Apple Juice, and Vodka Cocktail



Kevala, Pete, and Beps in the background






Sometimes Pete and I pretend we're models


Me and Isobel


Sometimes she takes serious pictures and I mess them up



Ruben said he was going to eat the whole
turkey so when it was brought out he
claimed the entire tray as his own



Not the best photo because you can't see
everything, but it's the best one I got



Pumpkin Pie... mmmmmm



Dinner time at last



I have a mouth full of food here and we were short one
place setting so I ate from a to-go tray with chop sticks.
Going clockwise: Me, Sarah, Hamish, Leanna, Pete,
Kevala, and Isobel


Starting in the bottom left  and going clockwise is Lukas,
Bee, Phil, Georgia, an empty space for Catherine
(she's taking the picture), Beps, and Sam



Ester, Caggy, and Ruben
(this photo is missing Simon)




The kids coordinated a performance




Post dinner entertainment



Pete, Me, Kevala, and Sarah had a
photo shoot after everyone left


Kev and me with Sarah in the background





Let's be serious everyone



Scorpio reunited with his creator


P.S. The turkey recipe I used is amazing if any one is interested it's below along with the link for where I found it (or was told to find it).  It's super easy and it will be the moistest and most delicious turkey you've ever eaten.

Spruced Up Turkey
These days, commercial turkeys and chickens too often lack flavor and succulence. Here is a way to make your Thanksgiving turkey or a simple roast chicken taste like those your grandmother might have raised on the farm. The spruce branches (taken from an ornamental blue spruce or Norway spruce) impart a delightfully wild and woodsy taste. Soaking the turkey overnight in a brine solution infuses the meat with exotic, fragrant flavors and plumps the bird. Don’t feel obligated to include every single one of the ingredients for the brine if any are difficult to obtain. Rather, use the list of ingredients as a guideline and improvise as you wish.

For the Brine:
1 1⁄4 cups kosher salt 3 1⁄4 cups sugar
2 cups honey
2 lemons, cut in half 6 sprigs fresh parsley 6 sprigs fresh dill
6 sprigs fresh thyme
6 sprigs fresh tarragon
6 sprigs fresh sage
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
2 whole cinnamon sticks
5 whole bay leaves
8 whole cloves
1 tablespoon juniper berries
1 tablespoon whole cardamom pods

2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
5 whole star anise
1 tablespoon whole allspice
1 two-foot long spruce branch, washed and cut into small pieces
1 one-foot long piece of sassafras root, washed and cut into small pieces (If you can’t find whole sassafras root, 3 to 4 ounces of loose sassafras tea can be substituted.)

2 gallons boiling water

1. Combine all ingredients except the boiling water in a 5- gallon heat-proof container large enough to hold the turkey. 
2. Pour the boiling water over the brine ingredients and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
3. Submerge the turkey in the brine, cover and refrigerate overnight.

For the Turkey:
1 fresh turkey, 18 to 20 pound fresh
A 2 by 2 foot square of cheesecloth
2 pounds (eight sticks) butter, melted and kept warm 
Spruce limbs for garnish


1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse it off under cold water.
3. Place the turkey in a roasting pan. Carefully dip the cheesecloth into the melted butter and lay it on top of the turkey.4. Place the turkey in the oven and roast for 3 to 4 hours, basting the cheesecloth with melted butter about every 30 minutes. The turkey is done when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 160 degrees.
5. Remove the turkey from the oven and allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Carefully remove the cheesecloth and place the turkey on a serving platter. Surround the platter with the spruce branches. 


Copyright © 2004 by Chef Patrick O’Connell, The Inn at Little Washington

https://www.theinnatlittlewashington.com/pdf/recipes/turkey.pdf

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