Thanksgiving in December

For Thanksgiving last year, my friend Katie, a fellow American, hosted myself and about a dozen others for a big feast. My contribution to the meal was my first-ever pumpkin pie, and as you might recall, tracking down the canned pumpkin puree turned out to be quite the adventure. Because God forbid I make my own pumpkin puree.

This year, I saw that pumpkin pie -- as they'd say in poker -- and then raised the stakes. Significantly. For a few weeks ago, I decided that I would host my own feast for a group of ten or so, and that I would make the lion's share of the dishes. What gave me the naive audacity that I could take on such a challenge, I'm not sure. For putting on the feast proved to be a beast. Consider the lead-up to the meal, which I hosted somewhat belatedly this past Sunday:

Sunday prior
After lengthy consultations with my mom (who was fortunately in the country at the time), I determined my menu: turkey, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, stuffed sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Note, this is only what I was making for a group that started off as ten and ultimately reduced to seven. Others would be bringing more dishes: cheese, crackers, appetizers, lemon meringue pie and ice cream.

Monday
Located what were possibly the last two cans of pumpkin puree in Sydney. It's one thing to find pumpkin puree in Sydney at some random time of the year. For a real challenge, try finding some cans the week after Thanksgiving, when expat Americans have horded them by the dozen. Fortunately, after searching far and wide for the puree last year, I established some connections and was able to secure and order two cans for myself.

Wednesday
Picked up said cans of pumpkin puree.

Friday
The big grocery shop. My shopping list? Compiled as an Excel spreadsheet that itemized and aggregated every ingredient from each of the dishes that I was making. (Yes, I am a nerd.) I think I can very safely say that I've never bought so much food on my own in one outing.

Saturday
Started the day with a cricket match and actually matched my all-time high score, with nine runs.* Then I rented a costume for my agency's Christmas party.** And then I came home to prep some dishes and bake the pies. This took the rest of the day.

*That high score, which I set in my first ever match and recapped in this post, coincidentally came against the same team and on the same exact weekend a year ago.

**The theme of this party? The Mad Hatters Tea Party. The costume? The Ace of Hearts. Will there be pictures? Maybe.

Sunday
Got up around 8, somewhat hung over from a house party the previous night, and was at it the rest of the day. First, the stuffing. Then, the green bean casserole. Then, the stuffed sweet potatoes. And then, as the potatoes were cooking, I had a bit of a panic attack when, speaking to my mom on the phone (who's now back in LA), she expressed pure bewilderment that I hadn't started the turkey yet. Andy, a turkey takes forever to cook! Needless to say, my confidence was shaken. Because when my mom speaks on the topic of cooking, you listen. So I rushed the potatoes, tossed the turkey in the oven and, well, two hours later, behold:

It turned out freaking perfect. At just about the time we planned to sit down.

The rest of the dishes? Freaking perfect! Here's a plate with turkey, stuffing and green bean casserole:

And here's a plate with the three pies (lemon meringue, pecan and pumpkin):

Freaking yum.

I couldn't move for the rest of the day, partly because I'm not sure I've ever eaten so much food in my life* and partly because that cooking sapped all my energy. Do I have a newfound appreciation for someone who can pull off a feast like that? Absolutely. Was it worth the effort? Yeah, I think so. Will I do it again next year? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, it's leftovers for the next few weeks!

*Well, except for this.