Yes we did it!! We made an American Thanksgiving feast for the very first time, and in India no less! It was delicious and wonderful to share with Indians who had never had a true American Thanksgiving dinner. The challenges were great, but the reward was even greater! We definitely had to give ourselves a big pat on the back when all was said and done. I am here to share with you today the challenges that presented themselves in preparation for this feast.
Challenge #1 (see picture below)
Every item that I had to prepare had to be baked in this tiny little toaster oven. I have been practicing to get the hang of baking in this little device with some small baked goods. Some how we were able to manage all of the dishes with some careful thought and preparation.
Challenge #2: No sticks of butter, only one large block (see picture below)
After realizing that I was never going to find sticks of butter ever again (at least while I live in India), I had to find a way to measure my butter. Eyeball measurements are ok if you're working with 1 TBSP or maybe even 2 TBSP of butter. But not when you are working with several sticks of butter. After doing some major online research, I discovered the method of water displacement. I rigged up my own water displacement measuring device and whaaaalaaa...I can now measure out sticks of butter. (see picture below)
I can now measure butter...but boy is it time consuming. Definitely miss individually wrapped sticks of butter.
Challenge #3: Homemade, homemade, homemade.
Did I mention that I had to make everything from scratch? For you old-timers out there, now is the time to laugh at a youngster like myself. I rarely make anything from scratch. After several years of working full-time and being a mom and a wife too, I never had time to make anything from scratch. If I could buy it in a box, I would. So I had to say goodbye to Stovetop stuffing and ready-to-bake pie crusts. Yes, I had to make it all from scratch. This is where I had to call upon my mother dear, several aunts, and of course...the internet for some much needed recipes.
The MENU:
1. Stuffing
The picture below is my bowl of breadcrumbs drying out for a day or 2.
There are only one or 2 grocery stores that carry celery here, which are not within walking distance. Thanks to our dear friends Jude and Roopa for finding the celery and dropping it off ahead of time for me to make stuffing. The picture below is our final stuffing project. The recipe came from my mom, so thanks mom for the help...it turned out great!!
2. Sweet Potatoes
Thanksgiving would not be complete without my Aunt Marlys' recipe for sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes here look so weird! It was so hard to peel them!! Poor Kris and I sat for over 30min simply trying to peel these suckers. (We were really needing a nice cutco peeler--Arlys). Then as we cut into them they were white, not orange at all. I panicked a little, wondering if I had bought the right thing. After boiling them and tasting them we discovered that they were indeed sweet. The pictures below show these ugly little vegetables.
3. Sweet Carrot Casserole
Thanks to my aunt Bonnie for this recipe. I don't have a picture for it, but I was able to find all of the ingredients easily for this one.
4. Corn
Also, no problems finding a can of corn. This happened to be Molly's favorite side of the night. Too bad it was the side dish that took the least effort. At least she is easy to please!!
5. Honey Glazed Chicken
No, we were not able to make turkey for this Thanksgiving dinner. Did you see the size of my toaster oven? No bird would have fit in there big enough to feed our group unfortunately. So we went with an awesome honey-glazed chicken recipe from good-ol Rachel Ray. Thanks Rachel!!
6. Apple Pie
I desperately wanted to make a pumpkin pie. I could even find a pumpkin down at the market, but I simply could not bring myself to make a homemade pumpkin pie. Some things just aren't worth the effort! So we went with a classic, all-american, apple pie. Yes, I made a homemade pie crust for the first time. The recipe was courtesy of Martha Stewart. The pie turned out wonderfully! The picture below is me proudly showing off my pie!
I had to make the pie and the stuffing a day ahead of time simply so I wouldn't over-work the toaster oven. We made everything else that day. We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Monday, December 2, simply because that is when Kris has his day off at the clinic. We started out our day with a Thanksgiving workout. You know, so you can eat, and eat, and eat, for the rest of the day.
Jude, Roopa and the boys getting ready for their first American Thanksgiving Feast!
There you have it folks! This is how you prepare a Thanksgiving dinner in India. I hope you enjoyed seeing the experience first-hand. We also hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for! Praise God!
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