Flightster

Make a Thanksgiving meal in your hotel room

• by Shannon Albert
• on November 10th, 2010
• 2 Comments

Since Thanksgiving is an American holiday, many Americans who are located outside of the country during that time may find themselves without a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. If you have access to a microwave, refrigerator and coffee pot, you can make this slightly modified version right from your hotel room.

I’ve tried to keep these foods as traditional as possible with some slight variations to make it easier to prepare. Here’s what on the menu:

• Turkey
• Stuffing
• Corn on the cob
• Cornbread
• Cherry Cheese Pie

Not bad, huh? Here’s how:

1. Make the Cherry Cheese Pie

This pie needs to be made first to allow enough time to chill in the refrigerator. Here are the ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, beat together softened cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in whipped topping and blend until mixture is smooth. Spread into graham cracker crust and spoon pie filling over top. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 2 hours before serving.

2. Start the turkey

Small turkeys (< 10 pounds) can be cooked in the microwave. For the simplest prep, remove giblets and neck from the turkey, rinse and pat dry, rub olive oil on the outside of the turkey and season with salt and pepper. Place turkey in a microwave-safe dish and cook for 7-9 minutes per pound on 50% power (optional: use an oven bag to help it cook more evenly). If the microwave tray doesn’t rotate on its own, you should rotate it every 15 minutes. Turkey is done when a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees in the thickest part of the breast. Many turkeys come with a pop-up thermometer that you can use.

3. Cook the cornbread

After the turkey is finished and cooling down, you can use the microwave to make corn bread. The ingredients for this recipe are:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix all of the ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl or dish and place in the microwave. Cook until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 3-6 minutes. If the microwave tray doesn’t rotate, you should rotate it at least once in the middle of cooking.

4. Prepare the stuffing

Although my mom has always had a strict rule against boxed stuffing, I think she’d approve of it in this case. The instructions on boxed stuffing say to boil water with some butter and then pour it into the mix. You can use the microwave for the boiling water or the coffee pot.

5. Microwave the corn

If the microwave isn’t completely exhausted by now, we have just 1 more thing for it do. Take fresh corn and husk and clean it. Wet a paper towel, wring it so it’s not dripping and wrap it around the corn. Place it on a dinner plate and microwave for 5 minutes.

We once had a Thanksgiving dinner made only from ingredients we found at the pharmacy. It was delicious but not quite as good as this menu should be. Do you have any tips for cooking while traveling?

Shannon Albert

Shannon loves to share awesome, fun and hopefully useful info that she's collected and to connect with other travel freaks. She loves the planning part of travel as much as the traveling itself. Shannon's background includes working as a web developer and as a digital producer for an advertising agency. She lives in Texas with her husband, 2 kids and dog. New York City is her favorite city. Her blog is shannonalbert.com.