Taco Thanksgiving in Australia

Since we're in Australia for Thanksgiving, we'll be missing out on the huge traditional dinner with family. We knew that making our own Thanksgiving dinner would be kind of depressing, because we wouldn't be able to prepare such a big spread just for ourselves and we would miss our family. But, we want to celebrate in some way and be thankful. So, we decided to create Taco Thanksgiving! 

The menu was tacos with turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans, feta, and cranberry sauce salsa and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. It turned out to be an adventure just finding some of these items in the grocery store. Cranberry sauce was difficult to find, but we eventually stumbled across it near the barbecue sauces. We are used to the easy, red boxes of stove top stuffing, but all we could find was a box of stuffing crumbs. And, the only way to get turkey without an exorbitant price tag was to purchase ground turkey. 

The pumpkin was the biggest problem. We could not find a can of pumpkin puree anywhere. A kind worker tried to help us and exclaimed that she had never heard of such a thing! There were several kinds of pumpkin soups, but no pie puree or actual pumpkins. I decided the only alternative was to make a sweet potato pie. We walked the block home to regroup. Brandon googled pumpkin puree in Australia and found that it was indeed not a common item. I looked up a sweet potato pie recipe. We headed back to the grocery store, picking up all the ingredients for our adjusted menu as well as a bottle of wine. 

We started on the sweet potato pie first. While I made the crust from scratch, Brandon peeled and cut and boiled the sweet potatoes. We mixed all the ingredients, and even pulled out the blender to get it as pureed as possible. The sweet potatoes were huge, so we had extra filling to bake without a crust as well. 

Cutting up sweet potatoes with Loki supervising

Boiling all those sweet potatoes

I simultaneously made up the salsa, which was an experimental mix of cranberry sauce, lime juice, green onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and cumin. Brandon started sauteing the turkey and some diced sweet potatoes. When the turkey was done we used the grease to fry up some clumps of stuffing that we had mixed with water. After crumbling the feta, microwaving the beans, and pouring the wine our meal was ready! 

Prepping the cranberry salsa

Sauteed turkey and sweet potatoes

Hoping the different type of stuffing works out

Multitasking and manning the stove

Taco Thanksgiving is assembled. Loki approves. 

So how did it turn out? The tacos were amazing! It really was a taste of Thanksgiving, and the salsa pulled all the flavors together to make it work. I think we've started a new tradition. 

Thanksgiving taco

We chilled the sweet potato pie in the freezer while we ate the tacos and then played Hanabi. After whipping the cream we were able to enjoy our pseudo pumpkin pie and shared it with our fellow Airbnb guests. Thankfully, it tasted delicious and satisfyingly pumpkin-like. Everyone approved. 

Playing Hanabi waiting for the pie to chill

Our sweet potato pie masquerading as a pumpkin pie

As with a typical Thanksgiving, we have leftovers for a few meals. In fact, I don't think we'll have to go to the grocery store again before we leave Melbourne. Success. 

In the Thanksgiving spirit with tacos and pie in our bellies, we remembered that we have much to be thankful for. While we miss our family and friends and are looking forward to being home for Christmas, we are very thankful for each other and the chance to do these travels together.