This year for Thanksgiving

we're having Indian.

(Whatever you do, do not ask me to explain that. Just grin and nod your head...or fall out of your chair laughing.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is the eve of our second thanksgiving in Australia. Last year I was not working and so was much more prepared for the big day having researched recipes for pumpkin pie filling, pie crust, dressing, and poultry seasoning. This year- having worked the last two nights until 7 plus- the plan is to buy a roasted chicken from the GOOD shop (Fresh Zone). If I get ambitious I may put together a batch of noodles- though I wonder if noodles need to dry out before cooking. Hmmmm. That would make noodling an early morning activity. The other item that is important to me is pumpkin pie. I used to make pumpkin pieless back in Cleveland. (I'll share my recipe. Put together the pie filling according to the can of Libby's pumpkin and bake it in a pie pan without a crust.) I suppose it would work in Australia with filling made from a real pumpkin (like the kind that could carry you to the ball if you had a team of mice and a fairy godmother- Australia, for all its fondness for pumpkin does not sell any pumpkin puree in the vegetable aisle. What's with that?) The alternatives are either Flicker's no fail pie crust- which I failed with on my last attempt. A "no roll" press-in pie crust I found on-line. Or, buying crust units from the frozen food section of Coles. Hmmmm.... Now, you won't sleep wondering what I do. Sorry about that.



My first Thanksgiving away from home occurred in 1985. Wow. That's over 20 years ago! I stayed in Durham. I think I was probably raising squab for my research project. My friend Carolyn flew down from NYC to join me. A few nights before I stopped by the North-something mall- you know- the one the hurricane blew the roof off? Or, then again, was it the South-something mall? Anyway, I was about the only soul walking through the mall when I was accosted by some child selling tickets for a turkey raffle. I don't know WHY I bought a ticket. I must have recently been paid. Anyway, I won. I won a 20 pound bird. Carolyn and I took that turkey to a butcher and had it cut in half. Half we cooked...well, SHE cooked. The other half we took to a local food pantry. Still, that was a ton of bird. I remember eating turkey on homemade popovers with cranberry sauce for days- sitting in the quad in between the psych building and the hospital.

So, on the occasion of thanksgiving- I am thankful for my family and friends-new, old, and yet to be discovered. For my home and totally-almost-perfect car. For my dog, Zelda, and the backyard family of butcher birds who serenade me and amuse me as they feed their overgrown baby. I am thankful that my own birds- Beeker, Big Bird, and Modern Physics have good homes back in the US without me. I am thankful that I have a job with people I like (and that I got a raise today!) I am thankful that my bed is firm and my pillow reliable. And, I have tomorrow off.