Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a traditional get-together with friends coming over to our house this year. It was a large group of 20 hungry people, ranging in age from 13 to 49 (I think I was the oldest). There was so much good food, with plenty of delicious side dishes which really could be considered entrees at any other meal. However, at Thanksgiving, the turkey is always the entree. 😀

Instead of roasting one large turkey, I prepared two smaller (11 lbs each) birds, and I think they turned out okay. I tried dry brining this time and while everyone said the turkeys turned out great, I honestly would rate them at a 7 out of 10. That being said, almost all of the turkey was gone, with the turkey legs being left. I think because half of the guests were native Japanese, they aren’t used to eating the drumsticks. Speaking of cultural differences, a traditional Thanksgiving dinner is a rare occasion for Japanese. Consequently, when I was carving the turkeys, many photos of me were taken. 😱

Anyways, besides the turkey, I also made our family tradition oyster stuffing. It’s my favorite, and I am glad that Koa really loves it too! There was also cranberry sauce, roast beef, sticky rice, shrimp cocktail, Maui-style poké, mashed potatoes, bacon-wrapped asparagus, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, sausage stuffing,, and fresh muffins. And for dessert, there was pumpkin pie (homemade by Mariko), matcha cheesecake, custard pie, and mango cheesecake. As you can imagine, we were all stuffed!

It was fun to have everyone over this year, and while hosting a lot of people can be stressful, I have to say that having foodie friends who bring over a ton of amazing side-dishes makes it a lot easier.

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～