Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends on Saturday. Kiwi's are not given the Thursday off of work and it is much easier to snag a few of them for a Turkey dinner on the weekend. The average Kiwi believes that Turkey is a big dry bird that has little flavor. I personally think it is a urban legend that has its roots in fowl envy. And to show everyone I, once again, choose to grill the bird!



The foil wrapped around the grill is to keep the heat an smoke in as the bird itself is too large. I am quite pleased to say that this approach worked like a champ. The bird came out golden brown smokey in color and flavor and was just so very very good. Unfortunately that is the best picture you will get of the bird as I forgot to get the camera out when the bird came out.

I did fortunately take the camera out and get some pictures of our guests. Here is Monique and Gerry getting out of the car, they were the first to arrive which is only appropriate as they live less than a mile away.



As you can tell from the picture it was a beautiful day here in Wellington. Just one of those amazing days where the phrase "You can't beat Wellington on a Good Day" originated. Which was a good thing as like any BBQ in the states the men found themselves relegated to the grill while the woman sat down on the leather lounge set drinking white wine.

Now this was not a bad thing, as you may know Gerry and I have been known to brew the occasional beer together. It is a male bonding exercise that has the added benefit of lowing the cost of beer in both our households. Gerry donated two bottles of Ol' Number 17. This is a Belgian brew we bottled back in August, I matched that bottle for bottle. And I am speaking for everyone when I say it aged very very well over the past four months. The men had no hardship cooling their thirst under the warm sun as we watched the smoke waft up from the grill.

We, the men, were eventually allowed back in the house, but only after we had removed the bird from the grill, brought it in the house to rest, and ran out of beer. And all the women did was drink more white wine, who says life is fair?


The food was served buffet style as packing 9 people around the table just seemed too crowded for the food. Fortunately this house has a buffet ... here you can see some people going in for seconds.

A good time was had by all, I especially liked the end of the day; after desert and cheese were enjoyed, the dishes were stacked; we grabbed the wine bottles, our glass and headed out to the balcony overlooking the mountains. What a glorious time, views of Wilton and Wadestown, the cool evening air, subdued conversation. We chatted until the stars started to appear.