Thanksgiving in Ireland

Despite being thousands of miles from the festivities at home, I managed to carry out the traditions of the day quite satisfactorily; all without skimping or shorting any of the goodies that mark the day. Everything looked and tasted familiarly American. This of course was made possible by submitting a grocery list of the ingredients that cannot be found here, such as pumpkin pie filling, cranberry sauce, french fried onions and the like, which were duly packed into my mom's luggage and brought over. A box of delectable See's chocolates were of course included in this motley assortment.

My mom and I started the preparations for the meal on Wednesday night. We had actually just arrived in town that afternoon, and as we still had the rental car, made use of such a luxury for our grocery shopping. There was no way, even with the two of us, that we could ever successfully manage carrying all the items home that we needed for such a feast. So we loaded up the car with everything (or so we thought) minus the turkey which we would pick up Thanksgiving morning at the butcher's shop. That night I made the pie crust and mom cut a loaf of bread into little squares, placing them in the oven to get toasted for stuffing.

After a stormy night subsided, inclusive of thunder, lightning and rain, the anticipated morning arrived and so the hustle and bustle began. Just before noon we took a walk to the butcher shop to pick up our turkey and a few of the ingredients we'd missed the night before. When the butcher brought out the bird that was to feed four and that we'd specifically ordered small, I got a shock.

The thirteen pound bird was monstrous; much bigger than you'd ever guess thirteen pounds to be! The twenty-four pound turkeys I usually fix for a large group back home closely matched its size. The only difference is those are taller and this one was longer. While the butcher fretted about finding a bag large enough to put it in, I fretted over it fitting in our tiny matchbox oven! By the time he came back with a cardboard box, I had reached the conclusion that there was no way our oven could mouth this bird whole. I apologetically explained my plight and asked if he had something smaller. He replied that unfortunately he didn't, but explained that if he cut off the legs and bound the body tightly, it would fit. I agreed to this alternative and hoped for the best.

And I'll just say that not only did it look like twenty-four pounds but it also felt like twenty-four on the rainy walk home. I am now an expert at balancing a turkey while holding an umbrella and have more muscle to show for it!



Houston, we have take-off!



 

The evening was wonderful! Everything fit and tasted delicious. Our menu included:

 

Turkey

Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes

Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Sauce

Rolls

Sparkling Apple Cider

Hot Mulled Apple Cider

Pumpkin Pie

See's chocolates

 

We were excited to spend the evening celebrating and introducing this American holiday to my flatmate, Lucy-Anne, and my friend, Valerie.  Holiday music played over dinner and conversation was most enjoyable; a portion of it revolving around typical Thanksgiving traditions and other holiday rituals, both Irish and American. After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we went to the living room where a fire was ablaze, sipped on hot spiced cider, nibbled on See's chocolates and watched a Christmas movie. Amazing day and so much to be thankful for!