El dia de Accion de Gracias

Trip Start Sep 06, 2008

Trip End Nov 25, 2008

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Flag of Dominican Republic San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
Monday, October 20, 2008

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!! I ahve not had a chance to post anything recently, as the internet computers are all broken except for one now, and there is sometimes a long line to use it...Anyway, since it was Thanksgiving in Canada last weekend, Nicole and I decided to cook a Thanksgiving dinner here in Consuelo for some of our friends. I was a little unsure and nervous of how to cook a turkey in a gas oven, as the control over the heat is less precise. In the end I put the turkey in a special oven bag, sealed it, threw it in a pot and stuck it in the oven. It actually turned out very golden and crispy looking, and I was very proud that I didn�t ruin it! The stuffing was also a bit of a fiasco, as there is a limited spice collection here, and savory is not one the the available choices...I was unsure of what to do, but after consulting with my savvy brother-in-law, I used some thyme and poultry seasoning instead. It turned out pretty good...but it wasn�t like Mommy's stuffing

the bird

! I also had wanted to prepare a sweet potato dish and some turnip, but neither of those vegetables exist here...in fact, vegetables in general are severely lacking in selection, as Dominicans don�t really eat a lot of vegetables other than potatoes and a local root vegetable that is like a potato. So we had carrots and frozen mixed vegetables, along with potatoes and gravy, of course!

Our Dominican friends had never had a traditional turkey dinner before (they certainly have had turkey and potatoes, but not all the rest!), and they were afraid of the stuffing, which I found to be funny. They all ate everything else on the plate and left the stuffing because they didn't know what it was. It wasn�t until I explained what was in it and how it is cooked that they decided to be adventurous and try it...and they all liked it! One of them ate all of their serving, and the others ate most of it, which was quite impressive. Nicole also made her family's secret recipe of rum punch, which was delicious - complete with frech fruit and everything!

Nicole had forgotten her dessert (home-made brownies), so for dessert, we had to settle for a bottle of white wine instead...and I think everyone was okay with it :)
And, of course, no holiday in the DR would be complete without a Dominos tournament! We watched the movie �Juno� and played 2 rounds of Dominos - and my team won both times )this was mostly not due to me, although I did win a few hands - but I still suck compared to everyone else)!

Anyway, I thought it might be interesting to let you know that I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving here, and it turned out pretty close to like being at home! I hope that everyone at home had a great long weekend and enjoyed some yummy turkey too!

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