Thank you, EVERYONE, for your warm birthday wishes! It's always nice to receive them and they make me feel "special".
The birthday-Thanksgiving dinner was a success. I made too much food (better to have too much) and all 8 of us enjoyed ourselves a lot with lively conversation - and lots of wine and cava.
The 4 kilo turkey I ordered ended up being a 6 kilo turkey because they didn't have any smaller ones. This one was even a little bigger than last years! But since I didn't use the &%$"! plastic turkey baking bags like I did last year, instead covering it simply with aluminum foil, and putting strips of jamón serrano all over the skin, it baked much much better. The outermost part was a little dry, particularly the first half-inch of the breast because they were very near the upper burner. It was a good sign that that oven was NOT smoking until the 3rd hour, when I took it out. It was done.
The stuffing, my first time making it, burnt on the bottom of the baking pan after only 20 minutes of the 30-minute recommended baking time so I had to cut off and throw out the bottom "skin". I made a second batch as "no-bake" and it turned out well and was a big hit at the table. The bread I was using was already toasted so it didn't really NEED to be baked. I later heated it all up in the microwave just before dinner. And everyone was right, it was pretty easy but you know how things are the FIRST time you do them.
Other side-dishes included kernel corn in real butter, salt, and oregano, green beans baked with slivers of jamón serrano, basic mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, and a "relish tray" of green olives, black olives, pickles, and cherry tomatoes.
Pre-meal snacks included cashews, "kikos" (baked corn nuts), "conos" (like "Bugles"), and the same relish tray.
The cake mercifully had no candles but upon its presentation, everyone sang happy birthday to me, first in Spanish and then in English.
Some people brought gifts ALTHOUGH I TOLD THEM NOT TO, nearly everyone brought wine or champagne and, I think we drank them all over the course of the night.
I washed half of the dishes and threw out the turkey carcass downstairs/outside after cleaning it well of the least dry parts and had JUST enough left-over containers for those leftovers. The green bean casserole was hardly touched, maybe because it was on the far end of the table. People really liked the turkey, mashed potatoes, and even the cranberries which the Spaniards said it complemented the meal well.
Member Steve Robinson made his second Thanksgiving Day appearance at the MadridMan home and he too enjoyed himself. It was nice to host him and he got A LOT of practice speaking and listening to Spanish.
I Woke up TOO early this morning at 9am - after going to bed at 3am - and began putting away clean dishes and washing those remaining.
So that's that! Another Thanksgiving and birthday put behind me. Until next year!
Saludos, MadridMan
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Can't remember the last time I hosted a birthday party or even the last time I had one! Usually, it's just a simple going-out-to-dinner and that's that. But this year, wow!
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