Thanksgiving 2025 in Argentina: A Smaller Feast, But Still Full of Gratitude

Thanksgiving has always been our second-favorite holiday, mostly because it gives us an excuse to make an outrageous mix of sweet and savory dishes. Over the years, our menu has shifted, but we always make room for the classics: turkey (or sometimes chicken), mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, corn, and stuffing. Sadly, cranberries remain elusive here in Argentina—at least for now—and we’ve never been fans of green bean casserole anyway.

This year, though, we decided on a smaller Thanksgiving for a few reasons. First, we already did a big Thanksgiving-style meal during our halfway holiday in June. Second, both our gas and electric ovens have been acting up. While we can bake basic things like cookies, cakes, and pies (with the occasional culinary tragedy), cooking a turkey for six hours just wasn’t happening until we get them repaired. And third—our budget is tighter than it’s been in years. Many of our tenants moved out recently, some because their contracts ended and others because of property issues.

Even so, we still enjoyed a delicious meal, just the two of us.

The Main Course Misadventure

For the main dish, we ordered a chicken from a place called Good Chicken here in Córdoba City. It was, without question, the first and last time we’ll be ordering from them. We specifically asked for the chicken not to be cut because we wanted it whole. As you’ll see in the photos below… they cut it anyway.

But that wasn’t even the worst part. The real problem was the hair strands still attached to the chicken. That made us seriously question how well it had been cleaned before cooking. We ended up re-seasoning everything ourselves because Argentine food can be pretty under-seasoned. Then we threw it into our electric oven for 45 minutes to reheat before serving.

Prepping the Meal

Unlike previous years, the hubs did most of the cooking while I made a run to Cotillón Chialvo, the party store that stole our hearts on Halloween. I was hunting for Christmas decorations (more on that in an upcoming post).

Thankfully, I made it back in time to help with the final prep work. By the time we were done, we had stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and our questionable-but-edible chicken ready to go. 

It was a simple, budget-friendly meal, but considering how much we do have—especially compared to so many people in the world—we had no real reason to complain. Plus, it tasted great, and we even had leftovers for the next day.

Dessert: The Real Stars

Now the desserts? Oh, we thrived. And by “we,” I mean my husband, who is an absolute wizard in the kitchen.

The apple pie was better than ever—and not just any apple pie. This was a butterscotch apple pie. The only downside is that I am absolutely terrible at cutting pie slices, so they looked a bit tragic on the plate. Trust me, though: it tasted great.

We also made a peanut butter pie with a dark chocolate topping and a special message.

Then came our dark chocolate treats, molded into pumpkins, turkeys, and leaves. The pumpkin and leaf candies had peanut butter filling, like homemade Reese’s cups, while the turkey-shaped ones had half a cherry inside. Unfortunately, it was very trial-and-error. Most of them fell apart while we tried to remove them from the mold, but we still managed to save a few survivors.

And then there were the Pop Your Cherry Pudding Cups: vanilla pudding layered with vanilla cookies and topped with two cherries. Simple. Indulgent. Perfect.

Since November in Argentina is basically summer, we also made pumpkin spice “blizzard” drinks—blended pumpkin purée with pumpkin spice, sugar, and lots of ice. Refreshing, festive, and lifesaving in the heat.

The next day, we made Thanksgiving truffles using pumpkin purée and melted white chocolate tinted with orange food coloring. They were meant to resemble pumpkins, complete with a little pretzel-stem on top.

We also had just enough homemade pumpkin purée left to make a pie. The hubs discovered a much easier method thanks to an online recipe. In previous attempts, he baked the crust, added the filling, and then baked the entire pie again. This time, he baked the crust as usual but cooked the pumpkin mixture separately in a pan. Once it was ready, he poured it into the crust and let it chill in the fridge to firm up. 

While the final texture was more pudding-like than traditional pumpkin pie, it still tasted absolutely delicious.

Our First Thanksgiving Tree

Of course, decorating is an essential part of the celebration. We’ve done Halloween trees for years, but this year, we created our first Thanksgiving tree. We decorated it with plastic leaves, pumpkins, dark brown ornaments, gold and orange tinsel, and a few unique touches. Honestly, it turned out adorable.

This was our first attempt

Our second attempt with more ornaments and tinsel

The axe represents the villain from the film Thanksgiving

The gun is there because well...people love shooting things during the holidays

To honor those who wish to stuff themselves with something other than turkey

I added the witch hat because I didn't have a pilgrim hat until the day of

Parades and Horror Flicks

While eating, we watched the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC—last year’s version, since the 2025 parade hadn’t been uploaded yet. The 2024 parade was pretty underwhelming because of the rain, and the hosts didn’t help. As much as I love Hoda Kotb, I’m not sad that it was her final year hosting.

We were tempted, though, to watch footage of the 2025 parade that someone posted without commentary—just the parade itself. I only discovered it because actor Robert Picardo shared a clip of the Starship Enterprise float. It was followed by a giant Jason Voorhees balloon. Since Star Trek and horror are our thing, we gave it a try. Honestly? We loved it more without the constant talking from Al Roker.

Over the weekend, we also watched some Thanksgiving-themed horror movies, including:

• Thanksgiving (2023)

• Black Friday (2021)

• ThanksKilling (a terrible movie in the worst way—the turkey puppet carries the whole thing)

• Kristy (not fully Thanksgiving-themed, but it takes place during break)

We also watched a couple of Thanksgiving episodes from our favorite shows:

• Grey’s Anatomy — Season 2, Episode 9

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer — Season 4, Episode 8

Now that the leftovers are gone and Thanksgiving is officially behind us, we’re more than ready to jump into Christmas mode. Until next time, let the festive chaos begin!