A Kiwi Thanksgiving

This weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving here at EcoQuest. It was such a lovely day. The weather was beautiful, and we all wore sun dresses. Cooking started three days before, and continued early that morning around 7:00 a.m. until after 5:00 p.m.. We had three roasted chickens (so tender and moist), three roasts of lamb (fresh from down the road), glazed carrots, asparagus, traditional stuffing, my mom's famous corn bread stuffing (which turned out great!), sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn bread, home made rolls, mussels, cocktail shrimp, brie, crackers and cheese, cranberry, walnut, and apple salad, and mashed potatoes. I'm sure there was more, I just can't remember.






Dinner went beautifully. Before we started, we stood in a circle (all 48 of us) and Denny said a prayer written by Wi (the man who started the Tangikaroro Reserve where we did the vegetation survey) and Janet read a poem about giving thanks. Then a few people chimed in and said what they were thankful for. I cried. So did other people. It really hit me that I will be leaving here soon.

After dinner, it was time for dessert. Boy did we have a spread.

Three pavlova (amazing! I will be making these when I get home), four pumpkin pies, four chocolate hazelnut pies with hazelnuts from Dale's family's farm, chocolate pavlova, berry cake that Ria made, and an apple crisp. Everything tasted amazing! I even enjoyed my first slice of pumpkin pie.
It was a lovely day. Everyone got a little sunburned. When am I ever going to be able to say I got sunburned on Thanksgiving ever again? Honestly it felt like the fourth of July. A big barbeque with lots of friends and family. I'll be sad to leave this place, but this was a nice memory I'll always keep.

Tomorrow is December 1st! Home in 28 days.