This year, I took Ali's suggestion and decided to have a pot luck Thanksgiving, since last year was so much work. The girls let me host it at the old apartment, since they have a lot of common space and an oven. Last year also taught me that if I wanted a whole turkey, I needed to order it from the grocery store in advance. After some difficulty with that, my roommate, Gal, did it for me. Our Thanksgiving was on the Friday after, since Thursday is a work day here. I went to the apartment in the morning, made my pecan pie & crust (I haven't found pre-made crusts here.) & went to the store to pick up the turkey. 18 pounds!!! It didn't have any insides, but it did have a very disturbing, phallic-looking neck that I had to chop off. I'm glad I had a few hours between that experience and eating. Otherwise, I might have been a vegetarian this year! There was a little hiccup in the plan when we realized that the oven wasn't big enough! Not to despair, though. I am a logical and resourceful...and I also discovered that it wasn't the turkey that was too big, just the aluminum pan. Nothing a bend here and there wouldn't fix. For the next few hours, I waited and basted as the turkey turned a gorgeous golden brown and the air was filled with the delicious smell of the lemon and garlic I stuffed the turkey with.
Ali made a green bean dish with toasted almonds and feta cheese. Allie made sweet potatoes, served in a half a baked green apple and Julie made onion and garlic mashed potatoes. Mike brought a great Americanized Israeli salad. Two of my American friends from camp, DT and Adam, also came. DT brought the cranberry sauce and rolls and Adam made chocolate cookies. Julie's boyfriend, Asaf, completed the dinner by providing all the drinks. It really was a grand feast. (Oh, I also attempted brown gravy, but it definitely didn't work. I will be attending Gravy 101 with my mom when I return to the States.)
DT lives in Jerusalem, so he stayed over at my apartment that night. The next morning, after sleeping in (yea!), he treated me to a good ol' down home cookin' brunch. We had hashbrowns, fried eggs and challah "biscuits" and gravy. (Maybe I should learn from him...) It was delicious, but it's definitely back to healthy eating & working out!
Ted, Ken, Dad: Was this short enough for y'all???
I realized that the link to my pictures didn't work before, so here are new ones: BRUSSELS THANKSGIVING
Monday, December 1, 2008
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