Since most of the people we know on the island had never had a USA style Thanksgiving dinner, and many were curious, having seen this setting many times in movies, we decided to do a Thanksgiving meal for fourteen people.

First, tracking down some turkeys took the help of a few friends, and several calls to different butchers. Eventually, a butcher had a source and the turkeys were butchered on Tuesday for us to pick up. These two turkeys were the skinniest ones I have ever seen with almost no breast meat!

Concerned that this would not be enough to feed everyone, we decided to do a Croatian style peka in the fireplace outside as well. This is where all the food (meat and vegetables) are placed in a circular pan with a domed lid. This is then covered and surrounded with coals and left to cook for an hour or more.

Everything had to be made from scratch, and finding the right ingredients was a challenge. I foraged for herbs for my sausage stuffing on the island. I also foraged for greenery to make table decorations. I roasted the turkeys and made mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, sweet corn pudding, salad, gravy from the drippings of the turkeys and apple pie with whipped cream for desert. John made the steak and sausage in the peka.

Everything tasted delicious and the turkey was amazing (maybe because I was starving from all the aromas by this point). The turkey was especially good, lean and tasty, and not dry at all. Now I want a skinny turkey every year.

Mostly, our guests and friends were really lovely, and the time just flew by, and before we knew it, it was midnight. A day to remember.

Our skinny turkeys
Foraging for herbs
Table decorations
Just need friends
Preparing peka
Roasted turkeys