Thanksgiving in the Middle East??

Living in the US, our family always got together on Thanksgiving. We enjoy eating the traditional Turkey dinner and playing fun games surrounding the theme of Thankfulness. This year the annual get together took place at the same place, same time. We of course are in Amman and were absent from the actual party, yet we were there via Skype.....btw, have I told you how much I LOVE Skype?!...Well, this lady LOVES Skype and so does the rest of the family!!....anyways, back to the story, I Skyped with the annual gathering of family in Eden Prairie/Minneapolis. We shared Hellos with my parents, sisters, brother-in-law, Grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins. And...we were fortuntate to even get in on the What are you Thankful for Game that we have played every year since as long as I can remember. It was fun, no doubt...but, we were still jealous for a taste of the Turkey dinner.....and Grandpa's (yes, Grandpa's) perfect pumpkin pie!!

So.....we decided to cook up our own Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner on Friday. We invited my Hubby's parents, brother, brother's wife, their 6 year old son, and my friend M., her husband and their 11 month old daughter.

Yanal was incharge of the Turkey and I would take the rest. The night before I prepared my Mother's home made cheesecake and my Grandfather's pumpkin pie with Mom's homemade pie crust. I also cut and dried the breadcrumbs, in preparation for my first attempt at Betty Crocker's homemade turkey stuffing. The next morning, Yanal preped the Turkey with salt, pepper, sage, thyme, and rosemary. As the Turkey roasted in the oven for the next 3 hours, I was busy cooking up Grandma's Corn Casserole that everyone loves. I also diced and fried the onions, celery, and mushrooms and sprinkled them with sage before mixing with the dried breadcrumbs, adding a little water, and placing in the oven. I steamed the green beans and grated the ginger as described in the oriental green beans recipe. I boiled yellow potatoes and prepared the garlic for my favorite garlic mashpotatoes. I made the turkey gravey with of course the delicious drippings from the turkey. Lastly, I made Asparagas soup with Asparagas tips. My friend Maria brought over her Angelic Eggs as they call them in Texas (deviled eggs as we call them up north).

For me, I had so much fun preparing the food in the kitchen as I could hear the people enjoying themselves in the other room - kids playing, ggigling and laughing together, adults talking and laughing loudly over the noise of the (must have been soccor) game was on the tv. My sister-in-law in the kitchen next to me, keeping me company and talking about Thanksgiving tradition back home. And of course the maid helping to keep the apartment clean - gotta LOVE the access to maids in Jordan!

The company was perfect. The food (thankfully) turned out great, the Turkey was so tender, juicy and flavorful -it was amazing (Great job to Yanal!) and the desserts were delicious.

With a touch of my Grandmother, Grandfather, Mother, my own and Hubby's recipes...it felt as I was close to my family and continued the tradition in the absence of home.

I so much enjoyed the day! It was a new experience for Hubby's family, an old tradition in my family, and now a new tradition as our family. Thanks everyone for coming and hope next year to have everyone over again...and note for next year - do not forget to take pictures!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving as well!