Gobble-Palooza!

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving I was able to attend a cooking demo with a bunch of other ex-pat women at one of the local restaurants.  They showed us how to make Sweet Potato Casserole, Honey Glazed Chicken and Pumpkin Pie.  The Sweet Potato Casserole was the most scrumpdidliumptious thing I've ever eaten.  Very different from a US SPC (United States Sweet Potato Casserole).  No toasty little marshmallows on top (I mean naturally, at home that's the one and ONLY reason I ever take a scoop of SPC.  Other than that - It falls into the "nasty" category and there are too many other tasty treats to squeeze onto my plate than to be bothered with SPC).  The SP you find here in B'lore is also not bright orange on the inside it's yellow in color.  So it's a bit strange when you taste it and it's definitely sweet potato but it doesn't look like a SP at all!  SO!  The SPC's winning ingredient - NUTS!  There was the most amazing nut crumble combination that was sprinkled on top:  butter, brown sugar, walnuts...I don't remember what else, after all, let's face it - I wasn't really there to learn how to cook anything I was just there to EAT IT UP!  Hahah!  In fact, at one point, Chef Jean Michael (from France) called me out in front of the crowd and said, "Ingredients!?"  and I said, "Oh, Shoot!  We're being tested?!"  to which he replied, "FAIL!"  Crap!  I think he officially flunked me out of French cooking class!?  Haha!  His accent made the whole experience even more fun.  I felt like I was on the movie set of Ratatouille!

  Everyone paying close attention

Then he taught us how to make a honey glazed chicken.  Supposedly, we were going to be having some sort of turkey demo but apparently the turkey hadn't arrived yet and so they had to substitute the turkey for his feathered friend the chicken instead.

Man oh man!  I didn't realize how many things in America are either processed, come in a can or are pre-packaged until I moved to India.  In India, if you want something - You have to MAKE it...FRESH!  No poppin' a can and floppin' it into the bowl.  Which brings me to our pumpkin pie demo.  No can of Libby was dumped into the bowl.  He cooked the pumpkin and made it the old fashioned way.

"Visking" the cooked pumpkin and spices!

Voila!  All done!!

Although we weren't in the good 'ole US of A for Thanksgiving - We were certainly counting our blessing and weren't at a loss for enjoying good food and great company.  It was of course, very different from home.  Not all things that are different are bad nor are all things that are different good.  We had a little mix of the good, the bad and the ugly! ;0)  Since Thanksgiving fell on a Thursday this year we ended up not really doing anything on the "official" Thanksgiving Day.  Matt had to work.  The kids had school.  We pretty much went on with life like any other day although the calendar clearly read, "Thanksgiving Day."  Our celebrating took place on the following two days! 

So the GOOD part of our Thanksgiving celebrating is that we were able to get together with some really amazing people.  Most of the people that we were celebrating with were Americans (SHOCKING, I know!  hahaha!)  Or at least one spouse would be American and their counterpart might be a different nationality but we all shared some sort of common American thread.

On Friday evening, our friends, Chuck and Lisa, opened their house to a slew of turkey eating maniacs!  Chuck and Lisa have two children, Calvin and Katie.  I think the final tally at their American Thanksgiving Feast ended up being 17 adults and 20 kids! 

Kids Were Served First

 Rachel and her friends, Gabby and Sofie, from California

 Erica and her friends, Ella and Sacia, from Minnesota!

The Boys hanging out on the couch

Lisa's son, Calvin, playing his ukulele (he's actually REALLY good at it!)

One of my favourite moments of the night was when a bunch of the kids gathered around Lisa's piano and started jamming.  Calvin plays a fantastic version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin' " I told him once we get our piano he's got to come over and teach me how to play that song!  (I'm not kiddin' Calvin - I WILL learn how to play that song before I leave India...I've got THREE years to master it!  Haha!)

The Hostess with the Mostess, Lisa!

Adults turn to fill their plates

Some of us ladies (and little Daver-Doo) paused to pose!

Desserts! 

While the adults ate, the kids kept busy making some Thanksgiving themed crafts and watching The Grinch That Stole Christmas.

The kids descended like flies when the "Dessert" announcement was made.

Joan and I servin' it up! :0)

Girl after my own heart.  Here's our Erica.  Long after the dust has settled and the other children have moved on to other activities - She continues to eat dessert to her little heart's content!  Alone.  Savouring every last morsel.

Not all of the kids (but most of them) stopped playing "Torch Tag" long enough to line-up for a quick photo.

While the parents were inside scratching their bellies and wondering why they allowed themselves to eat soooo much food the kids wrapped up their night with a game of "torch tag".  In India a "torch" is a flashlight! ;0)  Good thing Chuck and Lisa don't live too far from us because I don't know if the kids would have been able to make the walk home.  They were so tired and although I was feeling tired too - God only knows I NEEDED the exercise!

After a night of gluttony we wake up the next morning and do it all AGAIN!  It's Gobble-Palooza!  This time at our house!  I bought two turkeys.  Partly because the turkeys you can get here are SMALL compared to the US - Only about 10lbs BUT unlike the bargains you can find at the local super markets at home - In B'lore - They know they've got the ex-pat community by the....hmmm...how shall we say it nicely!?!?....By the "turkey feathers" ;0) and so they jack the prices so you end up paying anywhere from $50-$80 for your wimpy 10lb gobbler.  I wasn't sure if I was actually going to be able to find a turkey here in Bangalore so when I saw some frozen turkeys in one of the local markets - I figured I'd better grab one.  I later found the familiar "Butterball" and so that's what led me to buy two turkeys.  In case the local bird turned out to be a buzzard - I had the recognisable Butterball to fall back on!  Thank God I listened to that sweet, small voice inside my head that said, "Buy the Butterball" b/c I had no idea just how "farm fresh" our local bird was until Matt brought it into the kitchen on roasting day.  The local bird - Well, let's just say, when we took him out of the bag - We had a little surprise on our hands....

What a pretty poultry profile! (Ew! Ew! Ew!)

Oh yah.  We got more than we bargained for!  No nice little tidy bag of "treasures" inside the bird like you find stashed in the bird cavity of a Butterball.  Newp.  Those "treasures" are all still ATTACHED!!  Head, neck and all.  I guess I should be thankful there were no disgusting FEET to remove!?

David was very curious.  He kept saying, "Where him heart?!"

I had to "shoo" David out of the kitchen so Matt could get to "work" on the 'ole boy.



Not sure but thinking it might be "Turkey Manhood?!"

Luckily, just days earlier, Claudius was telling me about how years ago he used to work at a chicken/mutton stall.  Which is basically, a place that slaughters chicken and mutton and sells it "fresh" to the locals.  SO!  The Claud was all over this Au Naturel Bird.  He told Matt he knew how to get rid of the left over feather particles that were still attached to the bird....

Claudius and Matt on Feather Removal Detail  :-D

When the outdoor "rolled up-burning newspaper" method didn't reach his Chicken Stall standards - He decided to bring his unconventional ways indoors!!! ....  One last attempt to singe off any remaining feather fibers!

We determined at this point that the "local bird" would be a fried bird and we would cook him outdoors in Matt's big propane operated pot.  We brought that with us from the US but the Indian propane tanks do not use the same fittings as the US tanks so Claudius had to rig that up for us too.  It was SHADY to say the least!  Matt and Claudius were using electrical tape to make sure there were no air bubbles and that there wasn't any gas leaking through the tube.  When the moment of truth came to light the tank - Matt stepped back and said, "Take it Away, Claudius!"  Then we all said a prayer of Thanksgiving that God spared Claudius life as he lit the match and held it to the propane tank!  (I gotta say, "Claudius is the REAL Slim Shady!)  That was some crazy shenanigans but he got it working.  Meanwhile, my Butterball Boy that was starting to make the kitchen smell FAB-U-LOUS came to a grinding HALT!  The power went off and hence....no OVEN!  India.  India.  Always an adventure.  SO!  Instead of just frying the Buzzard - We ended up frying the Butterball too.

Bye-Bye Birdie!  Time for your Bath....Oil Bath, that is!

Michael's Finnish friend, Arttu, after hearing the menu - Decided he'd like to stay for lunch!

So the buzzard bird tasted like buzzard.  Tough.  Dry.  Ghetto.  The Butterball was moist and flavorful and we were very thankful to have the two birds.  David happily ate his Buzzard Leg and thought it was Great!  (hehehe!)  Michael's favourite was the stuffing and Artu's favourite was the mashed potatoes and cheesy bean casserole.  Erica liked the freshly baked rolls, Matt enjoyed the broccoli salad, Mac like the Cranberry Relish, Steve enjoyed Matt's gravy but wasn't a fan of the cheese sauce.  If Rachel had her way she would probably boycott Thanksgiving all together due to the food selections.  She's not much of a turkey or potato person.  I LOVED it all.  A day to eat.  How joyous!?

The girls joined us at the "Adult Table"

After we let our food settle, we retired to the living room to watch the Patriots on the Slingbox as we sipped Wassail and ate toffee bars and Apple Pecan Upside Down Pie.  The kids did not sit idol for long - They were out jumping on the trampoline within minutes of finishing their food.  (Dry heaving just thinking about it!)

It was definitely strange to be so far away from our friends and family in the US over Thanksgiving but as we set time aside and celebrated in India we spent time reflecting on our blessings and the wonderful people God has brought into our lives.  Home and Away - God has been good and We are so very thankful!
xo Jenny from The B'Block xo

Look at that Bird Brain (not the big one - the little one!)