Friendsgiving

It's Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Day is one of my favorite holidays, and it's always nice to get to celebrate it even when I'm 9,000 miles away from the United States.

It's Pinky's and my first year in our new condo, and we really wanted to do something special for Thanksgiving. We decided to have a "Friendsgiving" dinner / housewarming party and invite some of our friends over to celebrate.

I ordered the iconic turkey feast from Sunrise Taco, a Bangkok institution that prepares special Thanksgiving dinner sets every year for expats who are away from home.

The food arrived in a giant box by motorbike. We had ordered the small set, which is meant to feed six people. I have no idea how much food would come in the large (12 person) set!

I also made a pot of my famous mulled wine, which was a big hit with our Thai friends who had never tried it before.

The recipe is simple! If you want to make some amazing mulled wine yourself, I've written about it here: The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: Homemade Mulled Wine. This year I also added a small splash of orange juice which added some nice citrussy notes to the drink.

This year's Sunrise Turkey Feast included a half of an imported American butterball turkey, classic turkey gravy, garlic mashed potatoes, herb stuffing, cheesy broccoli, creamed corn, dinner rolls, and brussels sprouts.

Our friends also brought two plates of spicy Thai mixed salad to share. One salad was made with raw salmon, onions, and other veggies, and the other was made with crab. They were both really delicious, and the sweet/sour flavors helped cut through some of the heavy Thanksgiving dishes.

Our friends didn't know much about Thanksgiving, so Pinky and I got to teach them about the holiday's history and culture. It's really fun to share culture with our friends.

I'm really happy that they loved the food. As it turned out, the corn was the most popular dish!

And of course, no Thanksgiving dinner is complete without pie! We had the choice of apple, pumpkin, or pecan, but I had to order pecan. It's always been the star of the show of my family Thanksgivings, and the meal just isn't complete without it.

After dinner, we played a few games on the Nintendo Switch before everyone headed back home. It was our first party with friends at our new home, and it felt so nice to have a place to host.

This year, I'm thankful for the friends who make me feel so welcome here in Thailand. I'm so glad to have been able to celebrate this special day.