The Thanksgiving Feast at the Halberts

I have realized that cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal by yourself can be quite a task. I appreciate Mama and Jan-Jan (my grandmother) more now that I have tried it myself. Things were a bit different because of the Honduran shopping, but it was not that big of a deal.
I began on Wednesday night by making banana pudding. I was worried about this for two reasons. First, they don't have Nilla Wafers here, so I had to use a similar thin cookie. Second, they only had the old fashioned vanilla pudding, not instant, and I did not realize this until I mixed it in. Needless to say, the pudding did not "set" like it should have. Aaron and I were pleasantly surprised the next day when we found out that it tasted perfect!!
I began cooking on Thursday at 9am. I was thinking that I would be finished long before Mark arrived around three. Here is the original menu: Baked chickens, cornbread dressing and gravy, broccoli casserole, sweet potatoe casserole, and bread. My first attempt was cornbread for the dressing. I was skeptical from the beginning because they only had one kind of cornmeal here, and it did not look the same. I found out that it did not cook or taste the same either. So, I shifted gears and made home-made mashed potatoes instead. Aaron loves those, so I knew he wouldn't mind. The chickens were stuffed with onions and garlic and put into the oven around 10:30. I let them cook for several hours. Next was the broccoli casserole. That was a recipe from Aaron's mom, and it is his favorite casserole. I almost forgot the eggs, but I was able to mix them in before it began to cook!! Mark arrived right on time, and handed off the sweet potatoes from his suitcase. (I couldn't find any here, so he brought some for us!!) I mixed that casserole together, put some butter on the bread, and popped both of those in the oven for the final round.
The meal was finished and we sat down to eat at about 4:30. Thankfully, the guys had 7 layer dip to snack on while I finished cooking. (That was also made Thursday morning-I forgot)
So, the verdict was: The chickens were "amazing" and fell right off the bone, the potatoes were "Mmmmmmmmm......", the sweet potatoe casserole was "the best thing I have ever put in my mouth" (according to Mark), the bread was "so good", and the broccoli casserole was "good." Remember that I said broccoli casserole was Aaron's favorite?? Something happened while I was cooking, and it just was not the same. Maybe the altitude? Or it might just be "mother's touch." Whatever it was, I am going to get Mita to show me how she makes that and her enchiladas when I go home. Those are two things that I don't have the touch for, and I need to learn from the expert. I am very excited about it!!

We have been stuffed ever since Thursday! I noticed this year that around Thanksgiving and Christmas, I get uncomfortably full. Then, as soon as I get comfortable again, I eat more. So there is a constant feeling of uncomfort!!! Do you agree?? Why do we do that to ourselves? It is miserable!
Anyway, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. Christmas is around the corner, and we come home in three weeks!!! We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family. It was fun being here for Thanksgiving, but a little sad as well. This was our first year not to be completely surrounded by family the entire weekend. Mark was a wonderful substitute, though. I really enjoyed being a hostess this time!
We are decorating our first Christmas tree tonight, and pictures will be up soon. The weather here has been beautiful, but not at all cold. That is the weird part about putting up a Christmas tree. We have been in shorts all weekend!!