Snapshots: Hosting Our First Thanksgiving Dinner in Oz

Peter, our friend Ben, and I hosted a Thanksgiving feast at our place this past Saturday. At eight guests, it wasn't a large Thanksgiving, but it still required a lot of work and preparation. 

{No cans were used in the making of this meal!}

We began prepping on Friday. Peter made the dough for pumpkin pie and brined the turkey, while I prepared what I could for my green bean casserole and twice baked sweet potatoes. 

When Saturday morning rolled around, we got to work on the rest of the spread. I loved watching Peter perfect his crust.

We used small leaf stencils to decorate the pie.

Peter whisked together freshly pureed pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cream to make the filling.

Meanwhile, I began chopping up celery, parsley, and onion for the sausage stuffing.

Ready to go in the oven

Ben joined us and prepped the 11 pound turkey for roasting. We used my uncle's favorite recipe and couldn't have been happier. Thanks Uncle Sam!

Margot and Shae helped me sort the white marshmallows from the pink ones to give my sweet potatoes a southern twist. (I couldn't find a package of plain white ones anywhere!) The marshmallows were the only ingredient not made from scratch. Perhaps I'll make them next year. Or, better yet, I may just leave them out; it's not like we need to gild the lily here.

Peter and I were very impressed with the pumpkin pie. However, next time we won't leave it out for so long. After it cooled, we should have popped it in the fridge. Instead, we got distracted with the rest of the meal and left it out (fyi, it's summer here.) I tasted the pie the next day when it had cooled all the way down in the fridge, and it was absolutely perfect. Good lesson for next time.

*Did you know? The pumpkin pie has been around for nearly 400 years. The pilgrims made a crust-free version of it by hollowing out the pumpkin, filling it with honey, milk, and spices, and then baking it over hot ashes. And it seems we can thank the French for the crust addition. A pumpkin pie recipe with pastry appeared in a French cookbook called Le Vrai Cuisinier Francois in 1651. 

Ben's pecan and bourbon pie looked and tasted great. It was a huge hit and reminded me of Texas!

Nick and his adorable son Louis.

Ben tossing his shredded brussels sprout salad. 

Shae and her little man, Flynn

Ben made the most delicious corn bread. The man can certainly bake!

Margot and Nick shared a special bottle of chardonnay they sourced on a trip to the Margaret River. Its luscious, buttery flavor was a beautiful accompaniment to the roast turkey and brussels sprout salad.  

It was a resounding success. . .  until. . .

Aw, snap! Down it went.

I'm glad Shae captured this moment. Thanksgiving isn't complete without some kind of disaster.

After the initial shock of the green bean bust up, we put it behind us and sat down for dinner.

Everything turned out really well. I missed the green beans, but we really didn't need any more food. (On the plate: roast turkey with gravy, two types of stuffing, potato bake, brussels sprout salad, and a twice baked sweet potato.)

The Rouqefort popovers were tasty, but I think the recipe still needs a little refining to make them a bit fluffier.

In the end, everyone was relieved happy. After two days of cooking, it was time to drink wine and stuff ourselves silly. And that's exactly what we did.