Saturday, December 01, 2007

A Very Belizean Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous, the best since I moved to Belize seven years ago. Not that I had much to do in the preparation of it, just in the eating. Bigness went to the city and got a turkey and a ham and Cousin Rose took over the project. What a feast she prepared. Between our kitchen and hers (across the street), she seasoned, basted, baked, mashed and boiled for the better part of a day. The turkey was stuffed with sweet peppers and onions, the ham glazed with whole cloves, mustard and brown sugar and basted with fresh squeezed orange juice, the stuffing baked with corn bread, the mashed potatoes loaded with cheddar cheese, the glazed carrots cooked with pineapple and brown sugar and I don’t know what else, it was exceptional! Plus the Belizean favorite, rice-n-beans and Bigness’s stewed beans that he had going in the crock pot. I’ve made my share of Thanksgiving dinners, but I couldn’t top this one. We all nibbled on the leftovers for days. Bravo Cousin Rose! With the leftovers I made turkey waldorf salad using turkey, shredded carrots, diced onion, diced sweet pepper, raisins, walnuts and fresh pineapple. The dressing was made from mayo, lime juice, honey, a pinch of yellow ginger powder, a dash of soy sauce, salt, pepper, and Dijon mustard all given a whirl. After mixing the dressing into the meat/veggie mixture I served it on a bed of cucumbers and fresh tomatoes.

After dinner we promptly went into a coma.

5 comments:

Ziggy said...

Mmmmm. That sounds too good. Maybe next year we will spend Thanksgiving in CC. If not, I may use the sweet peppers, pineapple, fresh OJ and cornbread in our recipes.

-Dan

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

I was looking at a re-run of Everybody loves Raymond, the episode his mother decided to go healthy and she served tofu-turkey. Shees. Even I who don't eat meat squawked at that one.

You make life over there sound so good despite the problems I know Belize, like all other Caribbean / 3rd world countries have.

Caribbean Colors Belize said...

Its expensive living here though. Much more expensive than you would expect from a 3rd world country. If you want the lifestyle you have to be prepared to pay the price. Gas is over $5 U.S. a gallon and that affects the price of everything becaus the cost of transportation is so high. Plus, Belize is nsot part of the IMF, so our currency is worthess outside the borders.
Every once in a while my mom would prepare some weird "health food" stuff. Thank goodness she never messed with Thanksgiving.

Hayden said...

sounds absolutely yummy! And I adore the leftovers...... I think they are the best part of the holiday feast.

Caribbean Colors Belize said...

I was going to make a turkey noodle bake with cheddar cheese also but Bigness got into the turkey for a midnight snack and demolshed the rest.