Our first ever (small) Thanksgiving dinner!

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! I know it`s late and you probably are still full of the good food from the big dinners, but I hope me sharing our tiny turkeyless Thanksgiving dinner experience with you won`t give you headache.

Both my husband and I did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving tradition and people in Japan don`t celebrate it either, but I`m really keen on the idea of devoting a day in a year to remember what we should be thankful for. Our togetherness and healthiness, me still having a job(s), him passing tests and getting the scholarship, and us enjoying and living our lives are only a handful of countless good things we are actually blessed with. And with the earthquake we`ve experienced before, I just couldn`t feel grateful enough with what we have now. This is, of course, not to say that I don`t feel thankful in my each day because I surely do, but I think sitting together with your loved ones to have a special dinner to celebrate it is a very heart-warming gesture.

At first I was worried if he would be reluctant to the idea of us having the Thanksgiving dinner, but when I asked him about it, he quickly replied, "Nice! Chicken!". I should have known that with meat, I could easily make him do anything. So, last night we finally had our first ever, belated Thanksgiving dinner (we couldn`t make it on Thursday) with a very simple but super delightful menu! No step-by-step pictures this time, but I hope this will still bring out the festive moments we had.

We had vegetables salad dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, black peppers, and salt and garnished with chunks of boiled eggs I easily made with this method.

So here comes the bird. Chicken, not turkey. The star of the night: Mediterranean grilled chicken! I got the fabulous recipe from Katerina of Culinary Flavors and the first time I tried it, I fainted with joy. Thank you, Katerina! 

I wasn`t familiar with the use of yoghurt and mint in roasting/grilling chicken, but I`ve learned that trying new things can bring more deliciousness in my life. And you bet I was right! The chicken was moist and succulent and the flavors coming out were just incredible. I love leaving the mint leaves on the chicken as I think it gives a lovely hint for the flavor. Another great thing with the chicken is it`s very easy to make! Please visit the link I provided above to get the recipe and give it a try.

And for the carb, I cooked a simple potato dish by shallow-frying boiled potato with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic. Rosemary and garlic. Beautiful. I fainted twice last night. I have no idea why I didn`t use rosemary more often in my cooking rituals, because I clearly should! If you want to see the step-by-step preparation, I`ve made a similar dish a while ago, although with different ingredients.

For desserts, we had store-bought ice creams, although I have prepared another batch of chocolate mint cake too and this time with almond flour and no icing. I`m so addicted to this cake. 

I guess we both smiled when we went to bed and I was very glad that we had that lovely dinner!

I know people, and maybe you too, are already planning for Christmas and New Year`s celebrations, so enjoy preparing the next feasts and big dinners!