Happy (early) Thanksgiving!

Being an American holiday, Thanksgiving is pretty much exclusive to the US. What's a Yankee supposed to do in Japan this time of year?

Turkey isn't exactly popular here, though I'm not sure why not. Subway has a turkey sandwich (the Subway shop in my area closed for renovations quite some time ago), and you can find the meat in stores, but not at all like back home. Stuffing? Forget about it. Cranberry sauce doesn't exist either.

I've read that there are some restaurants where you can get a Thanksgiving dinner, but it looks like the options in Tokyo start around 4000 yen. I can make due with a turkey sub, though there's one Thanksgiving dish I really miss.
Pumpkin pie isn't exactly popular in Japan. Pies in general can be tough to find, as Japan prefers cake. I've made my own pumpkin pie before, and I'll probably visit the import store to see if I can bake one here (my microwave oven can function as a regular oven too). But I saw the above piece of pumpkin pie at Starbucks and dropped over $4 for the small slice of goodness.

It has a lot of pumpkin flavor, and it's somewhat "chunky" in a homemade style, with a couple pieces of pumpkin (or other gourds) inside. The crust was pretty good, flaky but not too tender, with good buttery taste. The whipped cream is pretty heavy and tastes like it should.

Hopefully I can get the supplies (in other words, pumpkin filling and pie crust) necessary to make my own. Otherwise, I might have looked at my only piece of the pie this year - literally and figuratively!

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