An American Thanksgiving in Oz

Even we don't get Thanksgiving off in Australia, that didn't stop us from having an all out feast...American style. This past Sunday, our friends Esther and Mckay threw and amazing Tday dinner for our group of friends. There was a total of 27 people: Americans, Swedes, Kiwis and Aussies (yes mom, there was one Australian representing). We had two turkeys which each cost about $100 each, yikes! Mckay bbq'd a cajun style turkey and pork loin and Zac did a more traditional turkey with stuffing in the oven. Both were insanely good, but I have to say that I was craving Dad's turkey - it's tradition! And most importantly, and thankfully, most of our friends like the white meat so I got my choice of WINGS!

We also had two moms visiting from the states. Steph's mom Beth whipped up stuffing with ingredients brought from home. Katy's mom was a lifesaver because no one else knew how to make gravy so she taught us how! We had the traditional green bean casserole, mac and cheese (I made it!), mashed potatoes, rolls/biscuits as sides. And some not so traditional ones...Porteno style brussels, crispy pork belly, pumpkin gnocchi and yorkshire pudding. The desserts were to die for...pecan pie, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie from scratch (thanks to our Aussie friend) and choc/peanut/oatmeal cookies (made from start to finish by Ryan!). The only other things that I was really missing was grammy's sushi rice stuffing thing and plain old white rice to sop up the gravy with.

All in all, it was an amazing day with an amazing group of friends. We were thinking about all of our friends and family at home though, wishing you guys were here to join us.

We are so thankful for all of the wonderful people in our lives near and far.

Love to you all.

The gorgeous table setting

Our gracious hosts, Esther and Mckay

Mckay injecting the turkey with delicious juices. Zac in the background prepping his turkey.

Injecting the pork with the same yummy goodness.

BBQing the turkey and pork. Dad, you would've been proud! There's Ryan, taking notes cause one day he'll have to be the one manning the grill!

Crispy pork belly by Katy.

All the pilgrims and indians. I'm up front stuffing my face with a turkey wing of course!

Fascinators, mount up!

On the first Tuesday of every November, Melbourne hosts a horse race that stops the country. It's called the Melbourne Cup and VIC gets the day off, but almost every other city celebrates the day in one way or another. In Sydney, the tradition is to go to a fancy lunch then party your pants off for the race and beyond. The men dress in suits and the ladies wear their cutest dress and a fascinator. The crazier and bigger, the better. This year we didn't plan too well, but still had an amazing time. I met Leah at El Loco (Mex restaurant) where we had tacos, tequila and champers then watched race (I lost!). We met a couple of new friends, then scampered down to the Beresford to hang out in the back patio and met up with the rest of our friends. It was an amazing day. Can't we wear hats like this all the time??

Anna, me and Esther

Anna, Steph and me

Me, Anna, Zac and Jo...this is probably my 10th glass of champers!

Me and Ry...he didn't dress up for the occasion...of course!

Zac and Anna. So dapper and so adorbs!

Anna, Esther, Renee, me, Steph and our new friend Olivia

Just us and the parentals

We have been doing a ton of fun stuff with Mom and Dad since they've been here. It's been one week and time has flown by! We've eaten at great restaurants, saw amazing sights and we still have another week yet to come!

On the beach walk from Bronte to Bondi. The guide said that it would take 90 minutes but I swear, it took us less than an hour. And we were stopping to take pics at every scenic area!

Leaving Tamarama

Love this pic of the life saving club in Tamarama. It looks like a building in Cuba or something like that!

Mom taking a picture of a sign

Ahhh, success. After the long walk, a drink at the local RSL. Tip for travelers in Bondi, go above Bondi North Italian to the RSL and have drinks that are half the price with the same view!

The Customs House. Walking on top of a miniature replica of Sydney CBD

Dinner at Toko, one of our favorite Japanese restaurants. They have an open kitchen, robata and the freshest sushi around. We had the snapper with crackling pig, soba/duck/quail egg soup, sashimi plate, sushi plate, some kind of fried chicken deliciousness, yakionigiri and scotch fillet. Everything there is always a winner!

A close up of the snapper with pork crackling. We ALWAYS get this cause it's just phenomenal!

Tonight, 03 Nov, we went to Porteno - and Argentinian restuarant that I've been dying to try. It's right down the street from our house on Cleveland and is all that it's cracked up to be. We got there at 6:30 but couldn't be seated until Ryan came, so went upstairs to their bar area for wine and entrees. We had pork and fennel meatballs, a cheese plate and pork sliders. Their wines were priced at $60+ for a bottle. We chose a lovely Malbec that was about $78 bucks. For dinner we had the 8 hour roasted pork with crackling (DELISH and enough to feed 4), sirloin (well seasoned but a little tough for my taste and they do it medium rare), brussels (not as good as I've heard. I thought they were a little oily and lacking a bit in good flavor but pretty and interesting cause it was fried with mint), beetroot with homemade feta (the feta made this dish) and topped things off with a pudding dessert which I thought was just okay. The wines were delish and overall, we thought it was an exceptional dinner made even better by the amazing company!

The delicious pork dish

Meatballs, yum!!

Halloween, Sydney Style!

This year, we did Halloween up right with an American party at the Argyle Bar. There were tons of people all dressed up proper in costumes. A bunch of our friends were the Mario Brothers, complete with cardboard cards and the rest of us were all a bit random. I was a shower poof ( which I found is called a loofah here), and I found a girl that was my weird twin!! All good times as always....

Jo=bloody nurse, Steph=bunny, Me=shower poof, Renee=Fairy

Me and my crazy, random twin!

Ke$ha in the middle!

There she goes, singing for beer

Me and Bowser