happy Thanksgiving, mate

I had Thanksgiving today. Since it's Australia, people have to work on Thursday (!), so it wasn't going to work to have a big dinner that day. It's amazing how many people we could have invited - everyone was curious and wanted to celebrate American Thanksgiving! But we weren't really up to cooking for 40 people, so we kept it to about 12 (plus a couple kids): Andrew's family, the family I live with, and a couple other friends.
So I've been cooking for two days, and everything turned out so good! I've never done the whole dinner myself before. Andrew helped all day today and was great with the meat, and I had help with the desserts too. We had:
~turkey
~a leg of lamb
~garlic mashed potatoes
~green bean casserole (this recipe is amazing, I have made it a few times now)
~stuffing
~yams - with brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter, with marshmallows on top (the Aussies couldn't get over that. We do eat strange things.)
~green salad
~steamed veggies
~rolls
The turkey was the best I have ever had in my life! We used an oven bag, and I made a "rub" to pour over it and under the skin that I think did the trick ... blend in a food processor:
4 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
4 tsp chopped fresh thyme
4 tsp minced onion
4 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (or a bit more)
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c white wine
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Seriously, the most moist and tasty turkey I've ever had. Made for really good gravy too.

So have I mentioned I live with a pastry chef? Jean, the daughter of Rick and Beth (who are letting me take over their spare bedroom for a few months), was up for the challenge of making pumpkin pie, even though she'd never tasted it. Actually I have yet to meet an Aussie who's had pumpkin as a sweet dessert; it's always a savory dish here. Took them awhile to get their minds around it and all wanted to give it a try.Jean made two pumpkin pies, an amazing apple and mulberry pie, her special fudge brownies, and mini pecan tarts!!

It was a really nice time with new friends; everyone seemed to enjoy it (even the pumpkin pie). :) Andrew's mom kept giving me these funny looks - she'd raise her eyebrows like she was surprised or impressed as she commented on each dish. Haha - perhaps I am satisfactory for her son. ;) He worked really hard to make today special for me. Everyone was stuffed full, which I suppose makes it feel even more like Thanksgiving, even though we had the air conditioner at full blast as my laundry dried instantaneously in the hot sun outside.

And the best part: leftovers! :)