Gobble, gobble...Happy Thanksgiving

I've been off busily preparing for my favourite holiday of the year. One of the few holidays that is truly American. The one day where we get together with friends and family, eat and be thankful for all that we have. No presents, just us. In my family, we are thankful for the people that are with us, and for those that could not be with us on the day. I have no doubt we were remembered as they sat at around the table, and now I was able to offer the same thanks in return. 

We celebrated our first Australian Thanksgiving this weekend. It was amazing. Two turkeys totaling 10 kilos (20 pounds), three kilos of cranberries (about six pounds), and a mashed potato bar with bacon, cheese, sour cream, spring onions/scallions and, of course, the real star, gravy. Mushroom with thyme to be exact. There was even pumpkin pie. 

It couldn't have been a better night with good company, great food, and lots of laughs. I couldn't have done it without MacBoyfriend though. He went to Manly Vale for the three kilos of cranberries and Marrickville for the turkeys. He flipped the turkeys and bought a poinsettia table cloth for the backyard table. So simply, for him, I give thanks

I'll leave you with a bit about the food....sweet dreams.

The Turkey

We brined both turkeys. One was a Martha Stewart recipe with bay and onion brine, and a Penzy's Bicentennial rub (tumeric, pepper, salt, sugar and something else I can't remember right now). The other was a Nigella brine with oranges and star anise, with a maple and butter glaze. They were delicious. 

We had cranberries, stuffing, wild rice, and a cranberry-apple chutney.

But the real star was the mashed potato bar.