Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner - Day 1

I thought it would be fun to keep a journal from cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  A few days ago, I made a menu, grocery list, and plan for when to cook which dish.  It's a bit of a juggling act with a small oven and only one burner that works at full temperature.  I've learned over the years that it takes 2 full days of cooking - and that it's much easier to use a rotisserie chicken instead of turkey, especially when living in a foreign country.

Wednesday morning - Sausage Stuffing

I got this recipe from a friend several years ago, and even though it is a LOT of work, it is completely worth it.  If I lived in America, I would probably still use a box of Stovetop stuffing, but this homemade recipe with ground pork is incredible.  

In Romania, it is possible to find celery, but much more common to use the celery root (shown above), called telina.  A couple of Romanian friends helped me learn how to use it - you need a very sharp knife, and it helps to add a carrot or two for flavor.  It takes a long time to chop the vegetables so small.

This year, my 4-year-old daughter helped me cut the bread into cubes.  She did a great job at first, but got tired as she was cutting all 16 pieces of bread.  Her pieces got bigger and bigger, but she finished it all!  I am so proud of her.  Unfortunately, when I asked her to hold the bowl to let Mommy take a picture, she spilled some on the floor.

My husband was, as usual, my hero and cleaned up all the bread.  He also cut more and made sure it was all in small cubes.

The main ingredients

Wednesday afternoon - Cupcakes and Mashed Potatoes

We had another mishap while getting out the ingredients for cupcakes.  Luckily, the cupcake paper baking cups were still inside a Ziploc bag, when my daughter busted an egg on them.  My mom sent the cake mix and a can of icing for my son's birthday, which this year is on Thanksgiving day.  

Licking the beater :)

It's much easier to get the cake batter into the mini size cups with the icing dispenser.  

Both kiddos got to lick the bowl :)

I will put the icing on the cupcakes tomorrow.

I only make mashed potatoes for special occasions, because it is so much work, especially with small potatoes.  But it is always worth it.

Licking the beaters one more time :)

Overall, I feel like I planned well so far.  I even sat down to watch a Christmas movie while the stuffing was in the oven, and I was still finished cooking for the day by 7PM.  Tomorrow we will make homemade bread, homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, corn, and apple cider.  I'm looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving and my son's birthday.