Our First Thanksgiving in Jakarta was an adventure. I am so excited to have a full sized oven, gas stove top, and a full sized refrigerator and a stand up freezer. I’m not as thrilled that our shipment is still not here, so no nice dishes, no pie plates, no stand mixer.
I worked to stock the cupboards to ensure that I had enough butter, sugar, flour, and Crisco. I almost forgot the cloves. I did forget the ginger.
I was fortunate to get my hands on mushroom soup, fried onions, Crisco, and a turkey. And I had brought a can of Libby’s pumpkin in my suitcase.
On Monday I put the turkey in the fridge to thaw.
On Tuesday, the nanny made the tart shells.
On Wednesday, I turned the shells into chocolate tarts. The butternut squash was baked, there was a last minute run around town looking for sage and cloves. But the ginger was missed. Without the ginger, I did not get the pumpkin pies made, but the crust ingredients were assembled. The turkey was dry brined.
On Thursday, Jackson was supposed to be in school, and the nanny was going to help me. He got sick, so I told her not to come. I was left to fend for myself. It was then that I realized that my casserole dishes are not yet here. I would have to improvise on the squash, green beans, and corn dishes. I had to get the ginger and get the pies made. Without glass pie plates, I turned to my mini tart pans. I went to roll out the dough that was prepared the day before. It crumbled into dust! I added water trying to save it, but success was not on the menu.
I forgot to hit ‘start’ on the timer, when the turkey first went in. I’m not sure how long it roasted at 500 degrees, but the house started filling with smoke, and the turkey was brown all over. (a little too long, I think). I turned down the temperature and covered the bird in foil. I also added more water to the bottom of the pan.
I mashed the potatoes, made the gravy, heated up the side dishes, and released the cranberry sauce from the can.
We sat down to dinner around 5:00pm, Jackson gobbled up the turkey, and even tried a few bites of the other food on his plate. Then the doorbell rang. It was the cable company, coming to install the fiberoptic cable! (I did reach out to set up an appointment and said any day this week would be fine. I certainly did not expect them at 5:15pm on Thanksgiving Day!)
