Thanksgiving in Aotearoa

So I just happened to have off last Thursday so I had time to plan a Thanksgiving meal. I jogged my memory for some family favorites and came up with the 5 cup Fruit salad, Parmesan mashed potatoes, Green salad with fruit & blue cheese, Savory stuffing, Dinner rolls and then added Carrots with caramelized onions & ginger and Mango passion fruit juice.

The turkey was a 4.1 kilo bird at just under $50.. I scrambled around in the garden and spiced it up with Rosemary, Parsley, Lemon, Garlic, Onion and salt & pepper. The legs were tied up and wings tucked under and then placed it in a large oven bag. Voila into the oven! After gauging the Fahrenheit to Celsius oven times I left it for 3 hours. Then it rested happily on the stovetop waiting to be sliced for 20 minutes. The drippings were amazingly not too fatting and made a perfect gravy.

Dessert was pumpkin pie and whipping cream. Literally one pie and one bowl of whipping cream. I researched buttery crusts and was quite pleased at the outcome taste-wise.. unfortunately my guessing at temperatures the first time around in the morning created a burnt crust. The pumpkin pie filling was lovely. There was no canned pumpkin to cheat with so the pumpkin had to be cooked and then mashed before baking. Overall, a success! I would cook the turkey a bit shorter next time as it was a bit dry and will definately use the same pumpkin pie recipe! Mmm! Can't wait till next thanksgiving!