Thanksgiving: The Recap

I know, I know, and I'm sorry. It does seem rather unfair that I counted all the way down to Thanksgiving Eve and then...nothing. In my defense, I plead food coma, exhaustion, a spotty Internet connection and the flu.

I broke the cardinal rule of entertaining by trying out a bunch of brand-new recipes on my guests, but despite a few culinary fumbles, it was a great night all around with much to be thankful for:

Thanksgiving Eve!!! T minus 1...

Update: Somebody just shared this photo on Facebook. So wrong and yet so hilarious.

Today, I finished making my pumpkin soup but didn't get a chance to make anything else. But I did manage to find cranberries and all the other stuff I needed for tomorrow, and I'm all set.

So today, I'm thankful for:

1) Santi's and Lirio:  Sourcing ingredients can be a real challenge here in the Philippines, but Santi's really helps me to not feel too deprived by the fact that there are no Trader Joe's, Whole Foods or City Super stores here in Manila.  Goat cheese, nutmeg and yes, cranberries--Santi's ever-comforting manager Lirio dug them all up for me and then assured me that my Thanksgiving dinner would turn out just fine.

Thanksgiving Countdown: T Minus 2...

Despite my best intentions, I didn't make it to the store again, so today's big project was...squash! Now, I have never tried my hand at cooking squash or pumpkin, but hey, how hard could it be?

Well, for one thing, that bloody little tuber was so hard to cut up, I'm surprised I didn't stab myself, instead.  Finally, after a great deal of huffing, puffing and putting all my weight behind the knife, I managed to quarter that damn thing and then roast it in batches in my baby oven.

Thanksgiving Countdown: T minus 3...

I had every intention of making my cranberry relish tonight, but I couldn't find fresh or frozen cranberries. Instead, I'm making chicken stock for my cream of pumpkin soup.

So today, I'm thankful for :

1) A freezer (albeit a tiny one) full of chicken bones.

2) Metro Supermarket at night. I'm a weirdo who loves supermarkets, but Metro on a weekend makes you want to run everyone down with your grocery cart, pausing every now and then to smack some aisle-hogging loiterer in the face with a free-range chicken. During off-hours, though, it is so much fun to trawl the aisles and score some great finds like dried figs and the last two bunches of haricot verts (French for cute little baby string beans).

Thanksgiving Countdown: 4...

Four more nights (including this one) until Thanksgiving, and I'm psyched. I've always just ordered Thanksgiving dinner before, because I couldn't fit a turkey into my little Barbie oven. This year, though, I've decided to bite the bullet, and make dinner myself with a huge chicken instead of a turkey.

So I've been spending the last few nights trying to come up with a menu me and my Toy Kitchen can handle and finally, I think I've got it.  It'll involve a little advance planning, prepping and cooking (okay, a LOT of advance planning, prepping and cooking), which aren't exactly my strong points,  but Thanksgiving dinner is my Everest and I'm determined to climb it.  Or at least not fall off.