# Happy Thanksgiving!



## expat0055 (Nov 24, 2019)

As I mentioned in my first post, I am about a year or so away from making the big move we have been planning for 10 years. When my wife first got here, and her Mom and sister after, they didn't really know what Thanksgiving was as some of us celebrate it here in the USA. 

I personally love it. It is my favorite holiday because it's non-commercial, all about food and gathering of family and friends. 

As I prepare for tomorrow, I would love to hear how you do it (if at all) in PH?


----------



## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in much the same way as Americans, turkey and all the trimmings, classic football games, and too much beer. Major difference is that our beer has alcohol in it.

For us it is not as big a deal, just another long weekend in the fall, often spent on yard work getting ready for winter.

We celebrate it on the second Monday in October as well. One year I was working in Iceland, for a Canadian company. My team was 6 Canadians, a couple Hungarians, several Icelanders and one American. 

We were staying in a commercial guest house, taking all rooms so the owner was happy that he had a full house for several months. We were joking around that we wanted a real turkey dinner with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving, the owner promised us one, we got our favourite recipes for him, brought over several large tins of pumpkin pie filling, cranberry sauce etc. and were looking forward to the traditional meal. 

On the big day, we walk into the dining hall and there in all its glory was a huge spread of pizza. WTF? we ask, Turns out that the owner was unsure when Thanksgiving so he asked the Tom from Utah, who of course got it wrong. (according to us anyway.)



Years later in Afghanistan, I was working for an American company and they made a huge effort to bring in real turkeys for the staff. Think about how you would go about actually getting butterball turkeys for a staff of a couple hundred, keep them frozen and have them delivered not only to the main office in Kabul but out to several remote construction camps.

At out camp we were a little sick of getting local chickens served cut into cubes and in some sort of cream sauce or tomato based broth. It appeared that this was the only way Cook knew to cook chicken.

Cook insisted that he knew how to cook a turkey, the big day rolled around everyone was looking forward to a good roast turkey. The cook proudly removed the lids of the serving trays and there was a cubed turkey, simmering in a mushroom based cream sauce.

Cook was all proud. "See I cook elephant chicken real good for you."


----------



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

We can't afford Turkey this year but I have cooked it in our gas oven and covered for 3 hrs the Butter Ball is usually available but there's some other Western brands but the price seems extremely high a regular sized turkey is around 2,500 pesos.

And once in a blue moon I can also find the cranberry jelly but I've never seen the stuffing for sale I try to make stuffing from scratch and it's never the same but I sure can make gravy and mashed potatoes, Knorr sells a large box of instant mashed potatoes and it's actually really good and the box stretches a long time.

My first couple times cooking the Thanks Giving dinner only the In-laws that had worked abroad would add the gravy the other family members didn't' touch it this was back in the middle 90's, the in-laws have to dip the meat in soy sauce, calamansi. I also tried cooking the local wild turkey and it never really came out very good and not much meat like the Butter Ball so the local turkey has to be cooked like you'd cook goat... In a soy sauce, onions, black pepper and the green longer hot peppers and no other ingredients and boiled for a couple hours it comes out like a gravy, if you add vinegar and garlic you'll ruin the flavor.

Manitoba sorry to hear about that Afghanistan cook... dang I would have been depressed for sure and it sounds they don't bake meat much in the Middle East but then again I've never been to the Middle East.


----------



## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

I wish I could have the big spread of food like in the US but out here in the provinces nothing is available. No turkey, no ham, no stuffing, no cranberries.

In the US I could buy a 20lb Turkey for 39 cents a pound and a 10lb sack of potatoes for 99 cents, bag of cranberries 99 cents, boxes of stuffing for a couple bucks, sweet potatoes. etc....

Here a 500g ball of fake ham is like 1000 pesos. Probably looking at 300p for enough potatoes to even bother trying to mash them. If you want sour cream in your potatoes thats another 250p for a little tub. Forget it.

I just don't bother. There must be 20 holidays here in the Philippines and the filipinos never celebrate any of them. It is just another day off of work or school. I ask them what is the holiday for and they always say "they don't know". What are we going to do for the holiday "nothing".:ranger:


----------



## expat0055 (Nov 24, 2019)

I guess for me, Thanksgiving holds a special place for a lot of reasons. I think even if I can't get some of the "traditional" things I would have in the USA, I will still celebrate. 

I am not opposed at all to doing it up with lechon manok or lechon and some of the Philippine holiday staple foods. I know you can get all the veggies that are common and stuffing is just bread, onions and celery as its base and I know that can be had. 

However, I hear what many of you are saying and that is why I am relishing my last year or so here. Although I have visited many times, and I can see the horizon, I know there will be changes when I move there so I am taking it all in now.


----------



## Zep (Jun 8, 2017)

My wife always repeats what I told her a few years ago. When she knows I don't like what is on the table she says "Eat to Survive". 

Here I eat out of necessity and don't enjoy food much. In america I ate and enjoyed it. Probably why I lost 20lbs here. I have stabilized at 155lbs but unable to gain any back. 

If I fly to the US I easily gain 5lbs in a week or two without trying.

Sad when you go to the malls every few weeks and you are looking forward to Burger King, KFC, or Pizza Hut. haha. I would kill for a Taco Bell. :boxing:


----------



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

Welcome to the forum Expat 55 and for sure enjoy all that imported food LOL and Happy Thanks Giving to you also ... it sure gets expensive when it's shipped to the Philippines.

Not sure if any of these are your favorite foods but get ready to say good bye to sour cream, cottage cheese, affordable colby/cheddar cheese, Kraft macaroni and cheese (if found $3 ea or around 120 pesos), decent tasting hot dogs and you'll never find decent tasting sausage other than at McDonald's unless you like the local sausage packed with sugar but I have purchased Johnsonville Sausages when available the cost per package is around 350 pesos or $7. Good luck with decent tasting Chinese food and Mexican food unless you live near a major city and even then both don't taste so hot.

I worked for a Mexican restaurant for several years so I can make my own tacos but I can't seem to make decent sausage. I can make Thanks Giving Dinner really well and I've done it in the past and I just might do this for Christmas instead of the pricey ham dinner, like Zep mentioned the ham is fake Lol... real ham and bone will cost you big here also, last year they sold the ham and leg regular sized for 3000 pesos or about $60.


----------



## expat0055 (Nov 24, 2019)

M.C.A. said:


> Welcome to the forum Expat 55 and for sure enjoy all that imported food LOL and Happy Thanks Giving to you also ... it sure gets expensive when it's shipped to the Philippines.
> 
> Not sure if any of these are your favorite foods but get ready to say good bye to sour cream, cottage cheese, affordable colby/cheddar cheese, Kraft macaroni and cheese (if found $3 ea or around 120 pesos), decent tasting hot dogs and you'll never find decent tasting sausage other than at McDonald's unless you like the local sausage packed with sugar but I have purchased Johnsonville Sausages when available the cost per package is around 350 pesos or $7. Good luck with decent tasting Chinese food and Mexican food unless you live near a major city and even then both don't taste so hot.
> 
> I worked for a Mexican restaurant for several years so I can make my own tacos but I can't seem to make decent sausage. I can make Thanks Giving Dinner really well and I've done it in the past and I just might do this for Christmas instead of the pricey ham dinner, like Zep mentioned the ham is fake Lol... real ham and bone will cost you big here also, last year they sold the ham and leg regular sized for 3000 pesos or about $60.


Thanks M.C.A

I am a decent cook myself. I make some mean tacos as well. We don't do a lot of eating out here in the USA, we cook mostly, and we will do that there too. I am looking forward to the challenge. We will be Northern Luzon most likely because that is where the family is, although we plan to travel a bit in and out of the PH. 

I like cheese, so that will hurt and I know good cheese is scarce there. Each time I visit it is for only 3 weeks, so making the move will be different I know. I am excited and nervous at the same time. It is a good feeling tho. I spent 10 years reading blogs, watching YouTubes, visiting myself, visiting with family, doing all I can to prepare.


----------



## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

expat0055 said:


> Thanks M.C.A
> 
> I am a decent cook myself. I make some mean tacos as well. We don't do a lot of eating out here in the USA, we cook mostly, and we will do that there too. I am looking forward to the challenge. We will be Northern Luzon most likely because that is where the family is, although we plan to travel a bit in and out of the PH.
> 
> I like cheese, so that will hurt and I know good cheese is scarce there. Each time I visit it is for only 3 weeks, so making the move will be different I know. I am excited and nervous at the same time. It is a good feeling tho. I spent 10 years reading blogs, watching YouTubes, visiting myself, visiting with family, doing all I can to prepare.


If you live in or close to a big city, you will find pretty much everything you want. Here in Davao, I can get all the hams, cheeses, pastramis, salami, sausages etc I like at Swiss Deli. If you're looking for US or Australian meat, beef, steaks, turkey etc, head to S&R.


----------



## pagbati (Apr 9, 2014)

*Availability of Foods*



expat0055 said:


> Thanks M.C.A
> 
> I am a decent cook myself. ... We don't do a lot of eating out here in the USA, we cook mostly, and we will do that there too. I am looking forward to the challenge. ... I like cheese, so that will hurt and I know good cheese is scarce there. I am excited and nervous at the same time. It is a good feeling tho. I spent 10 years reading blogs, watching YouTubes, visiting myself, visiting with family, doing all I can to prepare.





hogrider said:


> If you live in or close to a big city, you will find pretty much everything you want. Here in Davao, I can get all the hams, cheeses, pastramis, salami, sausages etc I like at Swiss Deli. If you're looking for US or Australian meat, beef, steaks, turkey etc, head to S&R.


Expat0055, Hogrider is spot on with regard to availability. I think the main thing to remember is that imported foods will always be expensive here. The more you can adapt and introduce local foods into your diet, the cheaper it will be. Clearly it’s best to avoid foods such as MCA refers to i.e., the ‘local sausage packed with sugar’ as I think he’s referring to that bright red thing which probably glows in the dark and must be an affront to any normal sausage. 

As you are a decent cook and don’t eat out that much, you should have no problem with the local food as there is an abundance of good base ingredients. Take your Thanksgiving dinner for example, which I suppose is not dissimilar to our Christmas dinner, when we have what we refer to as ‘roast turkey with all the trimmings’. We tend to buy a frozen Butterball turkey from S&R, which is currently priced at ₱299 per kg and equates to about ₱1,974 for a 6kg/ 13.2lb bird. Pork is very inexpensive, if you use that in your stuffing. Dried cranberries are readily available so you can make your own sauce. What we in the west call ‘normal’ potatoes are available but at ₱60 per kg. they are more expensive than at home so a lot depends on your budget. Local sweet potatoes are so much healthier and at ₱30 per kg, if you can incorporate those into your diet, you are better off nutritionally and financially. S&R are also selling a decent European ham this year for approx. ₱450 per kg. I hope they continue with this product as it not sweet like many of their usual ham products. Very good value when you consider that local smoked bacon costs about ₱480 per kg.

Dairy foods such as milk, butter, yogurt and cheese etc. are all very expensive here. Whilst it’s easy enough to make your own yogurt, which is a good savings, making decent cheese is on a different level. Most supermarkets now stock a good brand of milk from New Zealand and they have very good cheddars from Australia. I agree that the overall choice of cheese is disappointing but every year supermarkets appear to be widening their product selection so hopefully the choice of cheeses will evolve too. We like our dairy products so we’re willing to pay the additional cost for them. We see it as part of the cost of living here.

We also balance it out by looking at the great range of other inexpensive foods available here such as fresh fish, especially Tuna which, depending on the time of year and where you buy it from, ranges from ₱200 to ₱300 per kg or ₱350 to ₱450 if you buy it from the major supermarkets. Durian, papaya and mangos are just some of the exotic fruits available here at very affordable prices.

The quality of food at restaurants can be very hit and miss and most seem to love using food colourings, msg and other additives that many of us seek to avoid in our diet. Having said that, part of the fun of living here is eating out so we still enjoy doing that. Bottom line, you won’t go far wrong if you’re mostly eating at home. One of the reasons we choose to live in a city is the availability of decent supermarkets with their ever increasing product range.


----------



## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

well, we didn't cook anything for Thanksgiving. My daughter and family came down from Ohio to Florida and we all went to the GOLDEN CORRAL BUFFET. It is a popular restaurant where you can eat all you want. Not to expensive. It was $17 a person. We ate all we wanted. hahahahha

art


----------



## Rwestgate (Jan 29, 2019)

miss those places, most closed around here


----------



## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Golden Corral is still open in Columbus, Ohio. My daughter lives there and they go to it.

art


----------



## Rwestgate (Jan 29, 2019)

Art, 

I'll have to look harder, haven't seen one in ages!

Randy


----------

