Houston Day 187 - Happy Thanksgiving!

....and it was indeed all it's cracked up to be.  Woke up to find Janet watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the three of us spent the morning alternating between laughing and yelling (and, I confess, dancing) in front of the tv, and cooking up a storm.  Janet had also discovered a Thanksgiving playlist on the NPR website, so we cooked to that music, which was mostly just songs about food....including a rap song somewhat bizarrely  all about red beans and rice, and a lovely duet between Louis Armstrong and someone else entitled "All That Meat (and No Potatoes)".

Janet & Lucas choosing beer

The day before, however, involved a very stressful trip to the supermarket to buy all we needed to host the big feast.  The layout of the 11th St Kroger is still not intuitive to me, and there were some pretty frustrating traffic jams, particularly around the baking aisle.  Also, the store had completely run out of pumpkin, so Lucas had to make his pumpkin pie from a tin.

the veggies looked great before I actually cooked them

Like everyone who's hosting their first big meal, I called my mum a couple of times for cooking advice....felt like some sort of rite of passage.  And whilst I enjoyed preparing roast vegetables a la Sue, I screwed them up a bit and they came out burnt and chewy.  But thanks for helping me while you were travelling Mum!

I also got advice from my dad on how to make a good sauce to go with fruit salad.  Fruit salad is apparently a requirement of Bekah's Thanksgiving, and it made me very happy to hear her say "you've totally made my Thanksgiving with this fruit salad".  I've never really enjoyed playing hostess, particularly not when it involves copious amounts of cooking, but I had a great time yesterday! It helped that everyone contributed something, so Bekah made the turkey (well, she cooked it, she didn't make it; that would be strange).  Janet bought us some electric beaters and made a pav for a touch of Australiana...it was great, and went very well with Dad's raspberry sauce!

Janet's pavlova

Christine from Exxon came over too, bearing her family recipe of pumpkin ice cream pie, and Maggie stopped by between other parties and packing for her holiday to bring pecan pie.  The big football games were on, but unless I concentrate really hard on following the game I don't actually have any idea what's going on in American football, beyond the fact that big men in tight pants are rolling around on the ground together.

Maggie, Christine, Nick & Bekah

At last, at last (around 3pm), it was time to eat.  We ran into a little road block when we discovered that we didn't have a good carving knife and no-one really knew how to carve a turkey, but finally we sat down to a feast we could all be proud of! It was a very celebratory day.  I loved it.

Bekah attempting to carve

Maggie helping out

Now I am sitting in a quiet house eating leftover pecan pie for breakfast.  I am very thankful for old friends and new friends, and lovely food, and a lovely house with which to share hospitality.  I am grateful for my family on the other end of the phone, and for every second that I get to feel like I'm at home in this new country.

the end result - a delicious feast!