Thanksgiving

I have been having withdrawals from writing!!!
I feel like a part of me is missing and with today being thanksgiving in these neck of the woods and me bustling around trying to create a delicious meal for my friends and family, I thought it only appropriate to at lest TELL you what we are having for our last American thanksgiving. I know we will keep this tradition going in Australia but I am assuming it won't be quite the same celebrating with a bunch of Aussies (turkey isn't exactly a bird we get excited about, in fact I didn't even know you could have ground turkey!)

This year Nic and I decided to have thanksgiving at our friends house, the Croydons'. Kathleen and Jim have been with us since the very beginning. Their youngest daughter Clare is my eldest son's very best friend and it has been that way since they first met at the grand old age of 18 months. Kathleen and Clare came to visit us when we moved to Italy and then last year they dropped in on us in Virginia, we are only hoping we will see Jim with them in a few years when they come to Australia!
Kathleen is a fantastic cook, she always has something simmering on the stove or cooking in the oven, in fact I think I gained an extra ten pounds when I was pregnant with Alex due to Kathleen's desire to fill me full of delicious, tasty meals in those nine months. I wanted to do something special for her and decided to cook thanksgiving for her and her large family (the last I counted we are up to 26 people!!) Jim always cooks a turkey on the charcoal grill for thanksgiving, so this year I am brining mine and stuffing it with a sausage and cornbread stuffing. Nothing compares to the flavor of the charcoals but I am confident it will be juicy and tasty (I used the brine recipe from 'tastiest white meat Eva'). Along with the turkey I have made a version of the roasted cranberry sauce from last month's Sauveur magazine. Instead of using orange, I used a pink grapefruit and didn't add the jalapenos. The flavour is tart with a sweet edge- I'm excited!
Jim tells me it is tradition to have some apple sauce on the table and said 'Mott's' brand is fine, where I replied "not bloody likely!!" So I made a batch of apple sauce with a dollop of butter, cinnamon stick and a pinch of salt- boiled it all down to a lovely mush, we'll have to see if it passes the test.
Vegetables going along side the turkey and sausage stuffing are roasted parsnip and brussel sprouts, roasted delacada squash with a sage butter sauce and green beans slowly cooked with bacon, shallots and garlic. The only vegetable that was a must for Kathleen and Jim was the mash potatoes. Nic and I on the other hand feel the roast spud is a must, so I am making both and I am also adding some celeriac to the mash to peak a bit of interest.
After we have stuffed ourselves with the above food we are then going to cram in pumpkin pies and baked polenta cake served with roasted plum compote with buckets of whipped cream.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you all and enjoy the feast you have no doubt prepared, I am hoping to have photo's when we arrive in Australia next week.......