From USA to KSA...and back again!: An American Thanksgiving in Saudi Arabia

One week before Thanksgiving, I searched several super markets and did not find a turkey. Luckily, my brother in law came to the rescue and talked to a very important person. He found out that some turkeys had recently been delivered to Sarawat Store. So, with our three children in tow, we went and bought three turkeys. Thanksgiving Day was on Thursday, the first day of our weekend here (the work week is Saturday-Wednesday and the weekend is Thursday and Friday). After getting off of work Wednesday, I began prepping all the meals. The next day at noon, Sohail and I spiced up the turkeys and began our adventure of cooking. Keep in mind that our German sized oven has no temperature setting. It is run by gas and literally has fire on the top and bottom of the inside of the oven. So, we bought a convection oven that is run on Celsius (even though I have always cooked using Fahrenheit). Then,we borrowed another oven from our sister in law. Each oven had a turkey in it!

By 6 pm our guests arrived: my two brother-in-laws and sister in law from Pakistan, my friend from Australia & her family and my friend from Dubai & her family. Instead of being the common host, I put my guests to work! They were so willing also-the true mark of good friends! Everyone helped do one of the following: make the mini-apple pies, make fresh whipped cream, decorate the deviled eggs, set the table and more. I couldn’t have pulled it off without their help! In the US I would have had 2-3 days off of work, at least, for preparations.

I must say that the food was absolutely delicious!It was exactly how I would have cooked it in the US. I served cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, homemade turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, twice baked mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and apple pie. To top it off, we had Lemon cheesecake from Jade and Strawberry Delight from Farwa. Oops-we forgot to drink our fake wine (sparkling apple juice) from Amena!

The kids fixed each other’s hair and makeup. Cute little baby Adam found every open socket on the wall (sorry Amena) and we adults enjoyed talking about our new lives in Saudi Arabia. It was a night to remember!