Thanksgiving

By Amanda

Last week, Alex and I achieved what I consider to be a major life milestone: hosting our first Thanksgiving. There was a lot to be nervous about: trying to recreate our favorite family recipes, ensuring that our guests (a lovely Swedish couple) enjoyed themselves, and finally, properly cooking our frozen Butterball turkey so as not to infect our guests and ourselves with salmonella. (We were particularly concerned with the last item on the list!)

Since it was our first Thanksgiving 1) as hosts, 2) as a married couple, and 3) in Brussels, it was particularly important to us that it be successful. So, in classic overachiever fashion, I created a menu and food preparation schedule weeks out so that we would be able to pull it off. Our menu combined recipes from both our families and a few extras that we've picked up along the way.

Amanda & Alex's Thanksgiving Menu

Hors d'oeuvres

Homemade onion dip (We made it once for a NYE party, and it became legendary)

Cheese plate with sliced baguette

Main course

Classic green bean casserole (A favorite of my brother, Will, and I)

Potato filling (A delicious Pennsylvania Dutch take on stuffing--it was always my favorite thing on my mom's Thanksgiving table)

Spinach salad with candied pecans, pomegranate seeds, and goat cheese

Cranberry chutney (Alex's mom's delicious recipe)

Turkey (Fingers crossed!)

Gravy (Another terrifying charge)

Dessert

Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream (My mom's yummy recipe)

Since our dinner was planned for the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we used Alex's Thanksgiving holiday to start cooking.

Alex preparing the chutney. Cute apron, huh?

Me working on the onion dip. It's time-intensive, but always a crowd pleaser!

When the big day came we were set...except for one thing: the turkey. Due to the lack of fresh turkeys in Belgium, we bought a 10-pound frozen turkey at the American Air Force base. Following the instructions on the packaging and my detailed schedule, we popped it into the refrigerator on Wednesday morning to allow 3+ days for the turkey to defrost. When we unwrapped it on Saturday, however, it was still frozen. Starting to get concerned that the principal dish would be missing from our Thanksgiving table, we threw the turkey in a cold water bath and crossed our fingers. (Then I made the first of a series of panicked calls to my mother in California for advice.) After 30 minutes in the bath, it seemed pretty well defrosted (and we were running out of time), so we threw it in the oven. Four hours, one broken meat thermometer, and two additional panicked calls to California later, we took the slightly underdone turkey out of the oven, just as our guests were starting to arrive. Though the turkey could have used a couple more minutes in the oven, it was good, and the sides and dessert were great. My personal victory of the night: making delicious gravy. I didn't know I had it in me!

Alex serving our guests, Mae Liz and Daniel.

The plated meal. Not bad for Thanksgiving rookies!

After dinner we played Trivial Pursuit, girls v. boys. Harry volunteered to referee.

Overall, a great debut. Not as good as our respective moms' spreads, but a good start nonetheless. We're looking forward to next year's feast...