This is the first Thanksgiving for the kids in America. Last year, when we were still in Taiwan, we made an attempt to celebrate Thanksgiving, but it didn't turn out quite the way it was supposed to. It's hard to find traditional Thanksgiving food in Taiwan, like turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, etc. It's not impossible, just hard. We were living in Taichung at the time, and I remember I had to drive out to Taipei to a specialty store that sold American food. None of the stores I went to sold whole turkeys, so I just had to buy slices. All in all, we ended up with a decent, if not great, Thanksgiving dinner.
This year, because of my work schedule at the hospital, we decided to eat a little earlier than normal. The kids really loved it, and we had more food than we could possibly eat. My wife Christy told me that she prefers to eat the turkey leg over the breast meat.
"In Taiwan, it's the leg that's popular. That's what we like to eat." she told me. It's true too. If you go to Taiwan, you'll find the price of chicken legs much, much higher than chicken breasts. It's exactly the opposite of the way things are here in America.
I can't say I really like working on holidays, even though I'm making more money by doing it. If previous holidays are any indication, the hospital is going to be dead tonight, so they'll basically be paying me for doing absolutely nothing. Still, I guess we can use the money. Christmas is coming up next.
(Picture: Sara and Kyle getting anxious to eat)
Chicken breast meat is "dry" and not favored in Asia. If you go to a restaurant and they make kung pao chicken with breast meat, you know they're being cheap.
ReplyDeleteI bought a potato ricer (think of a giant garlic press) this year to make mashed potatoes, it works much better than the old masher. I highly recommend it with smaller (yukon gold or red) potatoes. Just boil/steam/nuke/bake/? the potatoes until soft, then stick inside potato ricer and squeeze. The potato comes out nice and fluffy.
Add some butter and grated Parmesan cheese, the heat from the potato will melt them. Then add some sour cream, milk, salt, and paper to taste.
There are several dozen restaurants and shops in Taipei that sells Thanksgiving Turkey and Turkey meals. Google "Hungry girl's guide to Taipei" web site and look under Nov 2008 entry. Also check Taipei Times web site for Nov 22, 2008 article "Turkey Time". Or just go to Costco in Taipei and buy a frozen turkey, LoL.