Thanksgiving Part 2

My Thanksgiving dinner was a success. On Thursday, my roommates and I had to work so we did not start cooking until about 3 pm. After picking up our turkey, Liz and I quickly realized our turkey had feathers! Unsure what to do, we looked online but found little advice as this is not a normal occurrence, so we spent the next twenty minutes plucking feathers off of our turkey. I found this quite gross and I don’t like thinking about the meat I eat in animal form.


Some of the feathers from our turkey


One successful pie and one not so successful one

At 3 pm we realized our turkey barely fit into our roasting pan so I went out to see if I could buy a disposable pan. The problem I encountered was siesta. The stores that sold disposable roasting pans were closed which I found ironic because in the states everyone tries to avoid going to the grocery store on thanksgiving to avoid the last minute rush while I couldn’t find a store that was open. After stuffing our turkey, we placed it in the oven at about 4 pm with the oven on number 3. Thirty minutes into cooking our turkey we realized the skin was getting dark too quickly so we tinfoiled the entire turkey. We cooked our turkey on number 3 most of the day and by about 7 pm the meat thermometer said our turkey done.

our beautiful turkey

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning the apartment, laying out the furniture, and mentally preparing for hosting so many people. I ended up carving the turkey which if anyone knows my dad’s turkey carving skills and my mom’s culinary abilities would find this hilarious. I think I did a pretty good job although I had to keep the pieces pretty small so that as many people as possible could have a taste.

People starting arriving around 8:30 and kept coming until close 10. When they arrived, we took their dish, heated it up if necessary, had them a plate and told them to start eating. The food was set up as a buffet and after people got their food they could sit down and eat. As more people came, those who had already eaten would get up and mingle with others so that the newcomers could sit down and eat. We had so much food! Everyone’s dishes were amazing and it was so nice to be surrounded by such great company. At around 11 pm we went around and said what we were thankful for. Everyone gave great answers including skype, the small things in life, Uncle Fulbright, our students, and having found a great group of friends. At this point, I counted there were 35 people in our apartment but somehow it all worked out.

the buffet spread

everyone crammed into our apartment

This was definitely one of my most memorable Thanksgivings. I feel so lucky to be in Spain this year, to have made amazing friends in Spain, and to have great family and friends back in the United States.