![Picture](/uploads/2/3/1/6/23164998/8609015.jpg?262)
First requirements: a kitchen, preferably with cooking supplies. Nate & I searched AirBnB for a special Thanksgiving hide-out that possessed not only the typical stove-top and refrigerator but also an oven. We actually haven't had an oven since we left the US + I didn't realize how much I've been missing it. To our momentary dismay, our landlord stated upon arrival that the appliance is not "100% working" and not to use it if we don't need it. But I think Thanksgiving abroad qualified as a need. We gave it a careful test our first night here and following that success we 'tested' it every night after - ovens are wonderful things!
Next we had to inventory our supplies: a good pile of plates, forks, spoons, glasses. No medium or large bowls of any kind, no cooking dishes except for one oven-sized baking sheet. Dull knives. Time to think creatively.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/1/6/23164998/2246714.jpg?250)
So we found a large supermarket 2 miles north of us and hiked up with backpacks to scout our options. It took some doing, but three marketplaces and six miles later we had developed a menu and obtained our supplies. We banked a lot on our one pan: stuffed mushrooms, a free-form apple galette instead of a pie (because we have no pan), stuffing in a pumpkin (because we have no pan) and so on. The pumpkin was actually hilarious and frustrating - every store had them for a week before thanksgiving, but then they all disappeared. A pumpkin hunt the night before Thanksgiving lead to the discovery of one of 2 remaining pumpkins in the city, with the smallest being 5 kilos or 11 pounds. So we took it home and spent about two hours carving a bowl-like hole into this monstrously dense squash. In the end, with all that buttery squash/stuffing goodness, it tasted delicious. :)