Thanksgiving Bonanza!

Thanksgiving Day 2013 Live Tweet Event!  I will be posting updates to Twitter all day today and posting each tweet in this post as they go live on Twitter.  Check back to this post periodically if you aren't using Twitter.  Tomorrow, this post will be updated one more time with photos from today as our official Friday post.

Gobble Gobble!

Friday November 29, 2013-  Had a great first Thanksgiving out here.  Follow the jump for the all-day tweets followed by photos to answer this statement:

Well then what's the point @LeighBlaize MT @HansonCory1: Photo fans, BE NOT AFRAID! Lack of smartphone keeps me from sharing pics of food...
— Kent Eiler (@KentEiler) November 28, 2013

Just waking up in Dublin on Thanksgiving 2013. Shout out to all my friends and family still sleeping in the USA!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013 

Finally finished setting up the live tweet blog post. That took longer than I thought. Whew! Gonna get started on food now.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Plan of the day: make bread dough, take turkey out of brine, bake bread, bake turkey, mash potatoes, bake green beans, make stuffing...whew!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Sara's off to work, time to let the REAL Thanksgiving fun commence! Gonna crank up my favorite podcast @retronauts while I knead the bread.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Bread is kneaded and rising. Added a little bit of wheat bran to the mix to aid in... digestion...
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Raw phase complete- turkey is out of brine, rinsed, and laid out to dry. Cross-contamination-catastrophe (CCC) averted!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Just recorded audio for this week's I'll Play Mega Man 2 video. Doing some house cleaning while video uploads.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Skipped breakfast this morning in favor of a small brunch to adjust for mid-afternoon overeating, now I'm coffee jittery #firstworldproblems
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Making mulled hard cider from my home-made cider batch. No drinking until noon, though! #itsnoonsomewhere
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Bread is in the oven, cider in the saucepan, kitchen already a mess. Missing our big fully-stocked kitchen already! Double oven is good, tho
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Shoutout to sis @LeighBlaize working the Macy's parade today. Hope the NYC weather holds up. We'll be watching the parade online later!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

12 rolls and a small loaf of bread out of the oven. Time for brunch!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

@VisitDublin Thanks, Dublin! We were even able to find a can of pumpkin for our pie here. Perfect weather here to stay in with family.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Cory = showered and dressed. Going to start cutting and soaking potatoes for mashing later. 48 minutes to crazy time.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Potatoes cut and soaking. Our one saucepan has been and will be busy this Thanksgiving. 21 minutes to Crazy Time.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Crazy time is here: Convection oven preheating for turkey, cider is fully mulled (?), potatoes in to boil.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Aaron Rodgers decides not to come back from injury against dirty Lions on Thanksgiving. Fantasy team suffers but probably a smart call, AR
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

So- the cheap supermarket turkey here comes with legs cut at the 'ankle' instead of 'knee.' Leaves scaly, bony feet sticking from legs.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Turkey is in! First time roasting a bird with the convection oven, so I hope it turns out well. 200 degrees C is 400 degrees F!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

"TV" schedule for the day: Macy's parade at 2PM, Lions/Packers 5:30, Skype chat 7,'Boys/Raiders 9:30, Iowa/Xavier MBB on replay tomorrow :)
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Crazy time continues: Potatoes are done boiling, turkey oven temp down, other oven to preheat for green beans and stuffing. Commence Mash!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Photo fans, BE NOT AFRAID! Lack of smartphone keeps me from sharing pics of food today. I am documenting the food and will post in blog Fri
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Greenbean casserole is in. Couldn't find fried onions so topped it with sour cream&onion chips. Same thing, right? #pleaseThanksgivinggods
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Stuffing is a wet, messy, gooey mass. Perfect time to throw it in the oven! Bread loaf pan (reused from AM) is the last baking pan left.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Everything is in the oven! Sara is coming home shortly! Time to light the peat fire!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

I'll Play Mega Man 2 video is up! Full post on Saturday on the blog, but the video is ready on YouTube- https://t.co/4UAGg0jL7v
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Sara just arrived home from work. Final preparations, commence! Cream to be whipped! Turkey to be rested! Gravy to be made!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Everything is ready! Turkey has about 10 minutes left to rest, everything else is out and on the table. Peat fire is roaring, parade is on!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Twitter silence over- food is eaten, dishes are done, parade is parading, football is waiting, fire is... firing.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Parade over, football on in 25 minutes- Santa has passed, so Christmas time is officially here!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

After-dinner-food-coma thoughts: did the best we could but feeling a little homesick for families today. Yay for Skype!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

@LeighBlaize @KentEiler Hope you had fun at the parade, it looked great on totally legit legal internet streams from Orlando!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Good thing @HansonSaraJ and I aren't facing each other in fantasy football this week, her Lions players could blow up, not that she watches
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

@KentEiler I don't like Thanksgiving football starting so late. Next time we change countries,we're goin WEST! #westcoastsportsdreamschedule
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Just finished a Skype call with Mom, Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Hanson. Great to see and hear them from so far away. Wolf Skype on Sunday!
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Just got back from a Thanksgiving night walk. We caught part of a Gaelic football game at UCD. Keep forgetting it's not a holiday here.
— Cory Hanson (@HansonCory1) November 28, 2013

Now for the photo gallery!  These begin on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.  Lack of kitchen space and equipment made it necessary to do some prep-ahead work.  It wasn't all bad to have some of the work done before Thursday, as it was busy enough even with the reduced workload.

Turkey defrosting in our tiny fridge (sitting in a freezer
drawer)

Vegetable stock for the turkey brine

Too much pie dough?  No problem!  Make mini pumpkin pies!

Leaving bread to stale for stuffing

Green bean casserole ready to bake the next day

The pie is cooling for the next day

Thanksgiving morning- time to make the bread!

Bread is rising

Turkey in the brine.  The brown color is (mostly) not blood but brown
sugar and vegetable stock

Scoring the Bread

Bread's Done!

Cider fully mulled

Potatoes in our busy little saucepan

Potatoes fully mashed

Casserole ready to be topped with sour cream and
onion potato crisps (chips) and baked.  No crispy
onions to be found at the store!

Making turkey gravy from pan drippings while the turkey rests
after baking

The whole table (except the full turkey)

Pumpkin pie with fresh-whipped cream

Peat fire is dying down at the end of the night

Thanks to all our family and friends for reading and following our stories.  We greatly enjoy sharing a bit of our life here on this medium, and are particularly happy this holiday season that we have such an easy way to keep in contact with our loved ones.