Thanksgiving meal planning in Netanya

I'm planning on hosting the Thanksgiving meal for our other expat friends. I've figured out how to do everything but the green bean casserole (missing fried onions) and the pumpkin cake (missing canned pumpkin).

I'd be willing to make these ingredients from scratch or use substitutes if I had any good leads on getting the right stuff. Can you get pie pumpkins here?

Anyone else figured it out?

Is a pie pumpkin different from a regular pumpkin? Regular pumpkins are freely available in supermarkets or greengrocers.And, of course onions
Good luck
Andyboy

Hi Andyboy,

Depends on what you mean by "regular pumpkin." The field pumpkins grown for jack-o-lanterns aren't good for pie. According to wisegeek.com:
"Pie pumpkins are any one of several varieties of pumpkin grown for eating rather than decorative purposes. Generally, pie pumpkins are smaller and more dense than decorative pumpkins. Recipes calling for pumpkin may use canned or fresh pie pumpkins, but should never have decorative pumpkins used as a substitute."

I should have been more specific about the onions. For green bean casserole most Americans use French's Fried Onions. They come in a can, are super thin sliced, and crispy. They become even more crispy when you top the casserole with them for the last 5 minutes of baking.

I did find a couple of from-scratch recipes on foodgawker.com. You basically make super thin onion rigs that you bread and bake/fry yourself and throw those on top. Unless someone decides to visit from the States soon I'll probably do that.

Sorry not to be of more help - but I am from the UK and you are talking a foreign language to me ( literally and figuratively).
Hope everyone enjoys your meal!

Actually you did help. If I can find cooking pumpkins I can bake them and can them myself. Then I'll be set for pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin cake... It's very nutritious and I miss the flavor.