First Thanksgiving – Report

Yesterday was my first Thanksgiving that I actually cared for and prepared for. You must know that when one moves to a new country it takes a while to get used to new customs, holidays, and well, new culture. For me it always starts with this longish period of time when I try to preserve pieces of my country in me and in my home. It seems to be the only way to stay connected and to show that I love my country. Because leaving is never easy, no matter what the reason is. It may be just curiosity, love for travelling, maybe a lure of a challenge of studying and working in new environment, or maybe a necessity, search for better life, safety. No matter what the reason, I always felt that I am betraying my heritage, to some extent. I am far away from my motherland, I am not using my talents and flaws there, I am not contributing there. I am giving all that to someone else. I think this is why I often feel that I need to compensate somehow.

After a while these feelings fade away. Never disappear but fade just enough to let me appreciate what’s around and to start forming and celebrating new traditions with people around me. This, kind of, was what this year’s holiday was about for me.

So, getting to the point. Dinner was, almost, a disaster.

I started early in the morning, with all recipes printed, all ingredients ready. I dealt with turkey first, being very optimistic and happy as it was only 7.30 a.m., and I still had plenty of time. Besides my recipe (I won’t reveal the source here..) was supposed to be tested and reliable. Oh.. this was my first mistake.

After putting the turkey in brine and then in the fridge, I followed with dessert. Still very happy and somehow relaxed. This part went smoothly and I even had time to snap a quick photo and post it. Then I proceeded with stuffing that had to be baked before the turkey (just one oven in this house) and somehow kept warm until dinner. At this point I started to feel a little bit of tension, as I was getting closer to the time of my guests arrival (still hours to go but..) and what was left on the menu (read: almost all) had to be prepared shortly before being served, so it could be warm, nice and fresh. This “tension” feeling is pretty easy to be ignored, as I kept repeating to myself that everything will be ok if I just stick to the plan. Probably this would be true if it wasn’t for that turkey…

Few hours later stuffing was done, so were gravy, cranberry sauce and potatoes, ready to be mashed, beans cooked and waiting to be adorned with some butter and bread crumbs. At this point I already forgot the nice and warm optimistic feeling from the morning. No more pictures were taken. And I checked on turkey (not the first time) that should be almost done, and it was not even close. It was about ten minutes before our guests arrived.

Long story short – it took over two hours more for the turkey to cook…. People waiting for food, me feeling raising anger toward poor bird, and my husband asking “how are you doing”? Sound like lots of fun, right? 🙂

Fortunately our friends were very understanding and waited patiently (and hungry). We chatted and laughed. But am I the worst host ever, or what?

This was my first Thanksgiving dinner. Next year I am using different turkey recipe.