So we hosted, it was wonderful!!! We had 6 guests, plus ourselves. Four of our guests (who are from Japan) had never had turkey, gravy, stuffing or cranberry relish before. So it was really fun to share those foods with them. Japanese homes tend not to have ovens and people rarely see a whole chicken, let alone turkey. You can’t really buy turkey in Japan. So when we took the turkey out if the oven, they took photos before Mr SK carved it.

As in the last few years, I got a precooked 12 lb turkey, you just have to reheat in a roasting pan, it’s super easy and it comes out perfectly. But I’ve learned that I don’t like the southern style stuffing, so this year I decided to make my own. I also made green beans almondine which came out very nice. Then my violin friend brought potatoes, and we had one store-bought side (broccoli au gratin, which was fine but I probably won’t get that next year, the homemade ones were better).

But the stuffing!!! I toasted walnuts first, then added celery and craisins (dried cranberries) to butter and water, then mixed two different kinds of stove top stuffing mix. Then add the walnuts. It was amazing!!! And so easy to make.

After dinner, violin-friend and I played for about 20 minutes (i did one solo piece and then we did two piano+violin). My piano sounds so great, and I was very relaxed so it went really well.

Then we had pie, or rather, pies!! Pecan, pumpkin, and one of those that’s half apple and half cherry. Yum!!!

Our first thanksgiving in our new home was a big success!!!

That all sounds really fabulous! Happy Thanksgiving in your new home!

That’s great, SK.

Stuffing sounds yummy! So nice that you played music too!

Yes, it sounds fabulous. I am a bit jealous.

That sounds great, SK! Congratulations on so much: new house, the anxiety-free playing, that your piano sounded good, and the stuffing! I assume the new location worked well for duets?

I have never made stuffing from scratch. I'm a big fan of enhancing the Pepperidge Farm bags of stuffing. Yours sounds wonderful.

Sounds like a great evening!

How wonderful! Congratulations!

Congratulations, SK! Sounds memorable and really exciting for your Japanese guests. It's a great feeling to make such memories for folks who have never been exposed to a tradition. I'll bet you felt proud when they started snapping photos.

And good for Mr. SK for doing the carving - no mean trick!

Good idea about the craisins and toasted walnuts - the toasting adds so much. How did they like the pies? Was the pecan pie a novelty for them or had they already encountered it in the South? Just trying to imagine Japanese adjusting to Southern culture is kind of mind-blowing - so different (thinking of two Japanese SIL visiting in the South). They're very fortunate to have you there to acclimate them, even though you yourself aren't a native.

I'll bet they were blown away by your playing, must figure you to be THE most well-rounded, talented prof imaginable.

Most excellent, SK! Glad you had a great Thanksgiving dinner and musicale!

Sounds wonderful! Happy Thanksgiving!

It must have been fun to treat your friends to the Am turkey dinner.

BTW! Making turkey is just as easy as warming up! Just takes longer in the oven and you have to remember to take out its bag of inside goodies first and rinse it. My 12 lb took 3 hrs...

SK, this sounds like the perfect Thanksgiving!

Congratulations on your hosting success!

Thanks everyone!!

quote:

the anxiety-free playing

Nina, not totally anxiety-free, but much more controlled! It helps so much to play your own piano, first of all. But the other thing I've figured out is that I do a lot better if I can start out with one piece by myself, I pick a slower piece or something I'm super comfortable with. When I'm playing on my own, I can control my nerves (or rather, control the effects of the shaky hands) than when I play with someone. By starting out well, I am more comfortable in the duet pieces, and some of the edge is gone from the nerves/adrenaline.

Amanda and LL, yes, it was really wonderful o be able to introduce them to these foods.

When I lived in Japan, so many people did so many things like that for me, welcoming me into their homes, showing me things, feeding me new foods etc. etc. So it was really gratifying to feel like I was giving a little bit of that back.

Wonderful memories. Happy to hear you had a great first Thanksgiving!