I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! This year in London, I hosted my very first Thanksgiving and it was a SUCCESS! Everyone loved Thanksgiving, and I’m hoping to make it an annual tradition here across the pond. I had my very own oven schedule, although it was quite short compared to the rest of the Garlic, My Soul crew! I was too busy to live blog, so here is my #laterblog
9 am: I began Thursday morning with the three pies. I know, dessert before dinner! Who does that? Bear with me… After pre-making the dough for the crusts Wednesday night, I prepped and baked two pumpkin pies and a pecan pie. Then they had the whole day to set (see, there is a method to my madness!)
10 am: As my flat furniture is way to small to host a sit down dinner for 11 people, so I rented a 6 ft round table and chairs, which were delivered right on time!
11 am: Next up were the sweet potatoes, individually wrapped in foil and oil. While they took up one shelf, the Tofurkey cooked on the second rack. Meanwhile, on the stovetop, four pots of water were boiling for the white potatoes.
1 pm: Cornbread was quickly whipped up and baked. Finally, the mac and cheese was made and baked, and dishes were done, all before…
3:30 pm: The turkey went in the oven! Jacinta made a lovely turkey crown that everyone said was quite delicious. Thank you Jacinta!
6 pm: The wine was flowing, the guests started to arrive.
7 pm: Everything was warmed and set out
8 pm: Dinner was served! Everyone said what they were thankful for, and ate until they were stuffed. There was barely room for pie, but somehow we managed!
Here was my London Thanksgiving menu:
Turkey
Tofurkey
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams
Mac and Cheese
Cornbread
Brussels Sprouts and Kale
Sausage Stuffing
Mushroom Stuffing
Ratatouille
Salad (with my famous dressing of course!)
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Egg Nog
Lots and lots of wine!
My guests were particularly impressed/weirded out by the candied yams. Everyone was really confused by the marshmallows on top, but I promised it was delicious and they loved it! Egg Nog was also difficult to explain, and it was a love it or hate it sort of thing here in London. Of course I made too much food, but days later, I’m still eating the leftovers, even after sending home lots of doggie bags. I’m thrilled to have been able to share Thanksgiving with my London friends, and to Skype with the GMS LA Thanksgiving! Is it too soon to start planning for next year?!
What was your favorite dish this year at Thanksgiving?
[addtoany] Yum