G wanted to invite some friends that we hadn't seen in awhile. It was really nice, especially when we realized that we hadn't seen G and M for almost a year!!!
I wanted to do something totally different. So, I read through the Thanksgiving issue of Gourmet and made some of the Latin-inspired menu.
First up... adobo turkey. Really good.
Look at that pretty turkey!
Lots of turkey, and this wasn't even the half of it.
I made a chorizo dressing with cornbread mix straight from the family in the US of A, which made it feel all the more US Thanksgiving.
Wow. Look at that awful photo. It's official. I hate my new camera. Anyway... the chorizo dressing was really nice. It was really similar to the one that my Mom makes, but Mom doesn't make it with stuffing.
Anyway, along with this, we had some lovely maple syrup roasted butternut squash.
They were really tasty and sweet.
THEN! What was supposed to be the undeniably most wonderful aspect of the dinner, failed to impress as all of my gratin's do. Something that I do in the making of the gratin is wrong, and it always has been. I love potato gratin, but it never works for me, it's always super watery.
Anyway, you started this by making a rajas.
First, I roasted the poblano peppers. Then you peel and slice them and set them asie. You put sliced onions in the pan and cook them until they are tender. Then you mix in the green chilis and set aside. You then mix it into the slightly boiled potato and cream mixture.
SO! Runny as all get out, but delicious never the less. Someday I will figure out the secret.
I had leftover cranberry sauce that I made for Canadian Thanksgiving in the freezer. So we ate that (which everyone loved!). It was a very well-rounded Thanksgiving, and the gravy G made with the leftover marinade was so fantastic.
And then we had a delicious homemade apple pie that G made for dessert.
For the first time, I made almost the right amount. There was way more turkey than we neeeded, but we ate almost all of everything else... That was very excellent.
I feel the meal went prety well. It was traditional without being routine, and I got to try some new things, which was really good fun.
On Thanksgiving Thursday, I worked (because I yes, I live in Canada) but after work, we went to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the Democrats Abroad. It was really really fun! We had a really nice squash soup and a lovely salad, turkey, dressing, potatoes, the whole thing. It was pretty awesome. Plus, we enjoyed the meal with a bunch of other Americans who were happy to have a plan on Thanksgiving (and since it was the Democrats Abroad, there was quite a bit of toasting to our new President-elect!).
Living so far from home can be difficult sometimes, and Thanksgiving really seems to remind me how far from home I actually am... but that I have also built a home here and that it's okay to start my own traditions. The most important thing is that I have a solid base to build it on, thanks to my Mom, so I am good to go.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
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