Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. This year it was celebrated on 22nd of the month and I had the opportunity to celebrate it here in Budapest. The history of Thanksgiving is rather debatable, so I will focus on the aspect of having a delicious dinner with my friends.

Having a great company is indispensable if you want to have an enjoyable holiday dinner. Before going to the dinner, I just knew that for Thanksgiving a turkey is a must on the table, but I had no idea there are so many things that need to be prepared and eaten too. So, I went at my friend’s place earlier to help with the preparation so that I can share with you some tips on the food essentials of Thanksgiving.

I will start with the cranberry sauce, because I still feel the taste of it in my mouth. It is a sauce made by cranberries of course and some smashed pistachio. It is very easy to prepare, while it gives a very particular flavor to the food you consume it with.

The sweet potatoes are another very simple, yet very delicious dish that needs to be served. The best way to prepare them is to bake whole and afterwards peel them and cut them in pieces while adding some boiled and slightly baked beets.

Of course, that there must be a salad on the table and the salad should contain something green, for example mache or rucola that can be combined with slices of pear, pomegranate and walnuts.

Then, there is the green bean dish that is served slightly fried with some fried onion and it is very delicious. I think that was the first time in my life I enjoyed eating green bean.

After, comes the stuffing which is an extremely important ingredient on the Thanksgiving table and consists of a mixture of small pieces of bread or a similar starch. You can either buy it or make it yourself. There are plenty of helpful recipes that guide you through the making procedure.

If you are a potato lover, then you will like the next dish, the mashed potato that contains boiled (and peeled) potatoes mixed with milk, butter and you can even add garlic (it depends on your preferences).

I already mentioned the turkey as the main dish and a must for the dinner, but in case you cannot find one, you can always replace it with chicken (at least that is how we did).

Although, we were already full by the starters, we continued eating because everything on the table was extremely delicious and quite irresistible, so beside all the laughing and complaining that we can not eat anymore, the time for dessert came. And who can resist apple and pumpkin pie? We couldn’t! So, we had a small piece of both pies and let me tell you that if you consume them with a glass of white wine they will be a perfect ending of the Friendsgiving dinner. Just don’t forget to add the smile as the most important and leading ingredient of the whole preparing, eating and having fun process.

 Klimentina Gjorgjioska