Alright, well I’m still quite tired, but Thanksgiving in France was a huge success. Since we put on the whole production without a single oven, I think I’m going to do a fairly detailed write up and try to get it published. Since we weren’t allowed to use the nice spacious lounge we had to eat in the hallway. Which wasn’t too bad. Although tight, and I’m sure the neighbors didn’t like it much, there was still enough room to scoot back and forth. I decided that it would be better to do a “buffet” style food distribution rather then setting everything on the tables. All in all it was an amazing event. The turkey came out better then expected, the casseroles were marvelous and the mashed potatoes were just as astounding. Although the gravy didn’t have the smooth texture I wanted, it still got the job done.

Here is an summary of how we made the food:

We were able to make the green bean casserole in the microwave by staggering the baking times and using only the “grill” feature. We did however use 4 microwaves to get them done in a timely fashion.

The mashed potatoes were fairly easy with the exception of the volume of potatoes to feed 25 people.

The gravy was made purely from scratch. We used the drippings from frying turkey legs on the stove top. To speed up the reducing process we used a thickening agent made from butter, flour and olive oil.

The turkeys were seasoned with house seasoning and left out to warm up to room temperature. Before cooking we strung the turkeys with a “wiring harness” for easier and safer access to the frying pot. After heating the pot, we placed the pot on the floor and slowly lowered the turkey in. After placing the pot back on the burner for 45 minutes, we removed the turkey, did the temperature tests and then left the turkey out for 15 minutes before carving.

I would like to thank Connor, Mario, Nick, Matt, Johan, Per, Adrian (and girlfriend), Benji, everyone who brought dishes and anyone else I forgot for making this Thanksgiving happen in France with such limited resources.