OK, first off, no one in the US (well, maybe a small minority) turns the leftover turkey into curry. It becomes turkey sandwiches.
Second, Christmas (I’m assuing the second big turkey meal you are referring to is Christmas) is not traditionally a turkey. Ham is much more common in my experience. Thanksgiving is the only holiday that mandates turkey. And pumpkin pie. And cranberry sauce. And stuffing. Mmmmm…Thanksgiving.
As for you jjimm, what meat are we putting marshmallows on? Are you counting sweet potatoes as meat? If you are, are you counting peanut butter? In that case, a fluffernutter is quite delicious and marshmallows (in the form of a spread) go quite nicely with it.
Not having a cold picnic or a bbq at the beach for Christmas makes Jesus cry…Santa also whinges about having to wear “this bloody red suit in the summer too”
Ugh, thank God Christmas turkey is not mandatory in America. In my family it’s usually roast beef or roast pork, although I really like tanookie’s idea of having lasagna, and plan to put it into practice if I am ever forced to take over the hostessing duties.
Actually, no-one in our clan particularly likes turkey either, and every year we talk about having goose or duck instead - these being far more “traditional” in any case. But every year we end up having turkey anyway. Damnit, you lot inflicted the bloody great beast on us in the first place, and now you tell me you don’t have to eat it at Christmas?! Hurumph.
For the last several Christmases, our fam has made it a TexMex day. All from scratch: tamales, enchiladas, fresh corn tortillas, salsa out the ying yang, brisket, fidello, chicken mole, and whatever else someone has a hankering for.
My (huge) family’s thanksgiving dinner, everything homemade:
Biggest turkey they can find (last year - 35 lbs.)
mashed potatoes
stuffing (my gram calls it ‘dressing’ and we fight over the crusty bits)
green bean caserole
mashed butternut squash
gravy
green salad
fresh rolls
celery with cream cheese and olives
lots of nibbles before hand
My in-laws thanksgiving dinner:
Turkey
mashed potatoes
green bean caserole
canned yams with marshmallow topping
green salad
stuffing
gravy
For Christmas, my family is likely to have the same meal, but with leg of lamb and a beef roast instead of turkey. The in-laws have the thanksgiving meal over again.
For turkey leftovers, it goes: turkey plate (just warmed up leftovers), turkey crepes, then sandwiches, then soup.
A friend of mine from Germany was shocked to think that we’d drive some 15 hrs from Ogden Utah to Phoenix Arizona just to meet him and a few other guys for New Years. Likewise that westerners tend to think of 14 to 18 hr trips as “close” and a days travel.
I get inquiries on messenger all the time from people who think Utah is ONLY populated by Mormons. Actually its about a 50/50 split. The Mormon Church is just more vocal than any other religion here. And we have one of the largest Russian Orthodox communities this side of Russia. And a very large, active Greek Orthodox community. I live half a mile from a Catholic Church, a synagogue, a Lutheran Church and well you get the idea.
I get two weeks off at Christmas this year… I don’t get paid for it though, thats what I get for working for the public school system.
For Thanksgiving, my family has homemade ravioli. I think we have a turkey or a chicken or something else on the side as well, and maybe some pies. I’m not sure, for I am too absorbed in these incredible homemade ravioli.
Ogden in the winter has quite a lot of problems with deer. They come down to the lower slopes of the Wasatch Front and find houses instead of feeding range. I had a friend up there a couple years ago who planted “deer friendly” plants in her front yard so she didn’t accidentally harm them.
We have raccons all over the place right now. Roadkill:(
Wow, this is a great thread. And from my first OP! I was a little worried at first when some early answers came in with “you all hate us and think we’re stupid”…
The size thing is interesting - Europeans have a totally different perspective from Australians. From our POV, the US is just so incredibly full. I mean, if you drive all the way across it, you run into more than one city in the middle! It’s not empty at all by our standards - even Texas is tiny and heavily populated. And Europe is even more strangely tight-packed.
As for the passports and travel costs, sorry, you guys have got no cause for complaint in my opinion. Check prices to/from Australia and then get back to me
Of course, I can make my $2-3000 AUS go further by using all my 4 weeks leave. Perhaps this is why our backpackers stay OS for months or a year - they can only afford one plane fare.
Marshmallows on potatos! :eek: Give me butter or sour cream any day.
Distances can be a pain - here in southern Oregon I’m several hundred miles from the nearest major city. So the US isn’t completely full (yet) but it has been completely explored and mapped by the USGS.
Yes, cajela, but that’s from major city to major city. I’m talking about from where I am to a major city. I don’t know if you have Fry’s Electronics in Australia, but the nearest ones from here are in Portland and Sacramento.
