Our return to Wollongong went smoothly despite our 4:30 a.m. wake up call and yet another flight with Tiger Airways. We greeted Wollongong shortly after 1:30 p.m. and hit the beach for some sun and nap action. The first day back in the Gong was relatively chill. We hit Woolworth’s (remember those) for Thanksgiving groceries and a few things for a much desired home cooked meal that night. Yeah, cause I’m sick of eating schnitzels and fast food.
We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on a Friday so that it would coincide with Thanksgiving in the states. The menu consisted of rotisserie chicken from Chico’s (Trez raved about it), roasted vegetables, macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, roast lamb with gravy and some appetizers (pastelitos and pico de gallo). I improvised a little with my pastelitos because the frozen flour discs from Goya were nowhere to be found. Guess Goya and Latinos haven’t made it down under.
I was excited to prepare Thanksgiving dinner for Trez as he hasn’t had one in 6 years. I knew Adayna and I having cooked together a bunch were the perfect team to lead such an effort. Knowing there wouldn’t be a lot of people there we scaled back the menu. Being so tired from traveling and laying out at the beach, I didn’t want to spend my entire Thursday evening in the kitchen. My mom is up all evening readying for Thanksgiving day. Bless her heart. I made a big dish - macaroni and cheese - and took my shot at a couple of Sweet Potato pies. (They were delicious!) I come from a family of great bakers and have watched them make pies many times, but never attempted to bake one myself. Whenever I practice a dish I always call my mom or dad for instructions, but I was on Australia time so there would be no reaching them that night. So, I went online and found the next best thing - Paula Deen. I followed those directions and poof two pies were ready to go.
I managed to take care of all of my heavy Thanksgiving prep work by early afternoon so that I could do what I love - hit the beach - before sitting down for dinner. I left Travis to take care of my roasted vegetables. He did a mighty find job and made sure to add our favorite seasoning. The Aussies supplied bread, beer and wine. No way I was buying any of that expensive beer. We all gathered for our meal around 7 p.m. and even did a round of “what are we thankful for”. Trez’s speech was the most heartfelt as the rest of us kept it simple.
Bellies full and bodies tired, we called it a night soon after dinner. Spending my first Thanksgiving out of the country was nice, but it made me miss the loud talking ,funny relatives and football even more. I concur. It also made me miss platanos more than I already had. Still, bringing Thanksgiving to life in Australia together with Travis is yet another testament to our relationship. Go us! I’m looking forward to many more Thanksgiving’s with Adayna and with her platanos next tie.
Too sweet....(tear)...
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