Can you find Cornish game hens in Tokyo? They would probably fit inside the toaster oven. You could probably cook them both in a pan with one of those oven bags, too. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

I did thanksgiving for 2 by serving:

- "thanksgiving roulade" - turkey cutlet flattened and topped with stuffing, rolled up, seared and baked till done
- packaged gravy
- mini batch of mashed potatoes
- cranberry sauce
- dinner rolls

Had ALL the flavors of T-day! YUM

If you have a toaster oven thats pretty much your only option for baking. We butterflied and stuffed some chicken breasts the year I was in Tokyo, and used the oven in the home ec department at the university we were studying at. We used apple juice to finagle some 'cider'. Mashed potatoes are easy enough. Pie is the hard part, there are a few no bake recipes (would have to go crustless). You can also make like... mousse or something non-bake. Candied sweet potatoes are pretty simple, but I don't recall if the asian ones came out quite the same (just fry thin slices in an excess of butter til black). Rolls are hard. We gave ours and asian theme and for dessert made sushi (slices of mango on sushi rice with coconut milk instead of vinegar with a thin piece of nori to hold it together)

She probably won't be able to find turkey or whole chickens (not even cornish) in Japan. We had a fleet of like 10 people scour Tokyo and the best selection we could find was actually at a Costco. We caved and just did chicken breasts.

I'm of the mindset that you can't recreate T-day in a place like Japan -- what's the point when the proper ingredients aren't available. But I would dive into local culture and find out if there is a harvest festival dish(es) -- EVERY culture has a harvest fest -- and make that for the holiday, and give thanks for having the opportunity to live in a wonderful new place. (Full disclosure: I love Japan and am a bit envious!)

itadakimasu !

I cooked two thanksgiving dinners in studio apartments with kitchens like the one you describe. I don't know about finding ingredients in Tokyo, but I do know that you can cook a mean dinner on a hot plate! I don't eat meat, so getting a Turkey together was never an issue for me, but here's a few ideas;
Potatoes for mashing can be boiled on your hot plate or cooked in the microwave. Squash can be roasted in a toaster oven the night before and then warmed up in the toaster oven. With enough advance planning bread stuffing is possible, if you can find cornmeal, but I would recommend finding a non-bread stuffing recipe like someone else mentioned. I made pumpkin cookies, baked in tiny batches in the toaster oven, instead of pie, but I bet you could make a pie in a toaster oven in the morning before you get started on your bird, or even the day before. If you are green bean casserole fan, try making braised green beans on your hotplate instead.
Have fun!

Check the mitsukoshi food hall in ginza. They have amazing foods and a vast selection of even western pre made foods to help offset the space. I believe I even saw a roasted bird available in their Christmas cake catalog. Plus there is a Johans of Paris to help with the baked breads, yum! You can even pick-up an amazing apple and pear to make a small slab pie in the toaster oven. Crate and barrel has a great baking set for the toaster oven that comes in handy too. Good luck!

http://www.themeatguy.jp/app/en/products/index/9?gclid=CLnJpNetq6UCFQPSbgodAEOkYQ#content-top

I also just saw this google ad here on kitchn. Looks like he can send you a boneless breast, worth looking into :)

thanks for all the suggestions everyone! i KNEW the kitchn and it's readers would have great ideas.

Check if your microwave has an "oven" setting. It would most likely be labeled in katakana so even if you don't read much Japanese you can sound it out pretty easily, or you can ask a Japanese friend. If it does, you're in luck because you can do anything in there that you could in a regular oven. It just might take a little longer.

As for places to get the right food, you may also want to check out the Azabu area. There are several good international food stores there, and several do have turkey although they're not exactly cheap.

As for side dishes, one thing you might want to try is making some Japanese kabocha (green-skinned pumpkin). Just dice it, put it in a pot with enough water to cover the pumpkin, a little soy sauce and sugar. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes. It's quick and easy, and the pumpkins will be readily available in your local grocery store.

I am in the same boat, I am living in Korea and cooking dinner for my fiancé (Korean) and his parents and older brother.

Chickens are smaller here so I can cook one in my toaster oven. The game plan is to cook things like potatoes and pie the night before (we are going to celebrate on the weekend because of work schedules) Chicken the day of and just re-heat a lot of stuff while the chicken is resting.

Last year I didn’t have an oven so I used my rice cooker for a lot of things. My friend made a wonderful stuffing using her rice cooker and I made some apple bread.
You could also try making soup that has flavors that remind you of thanksgiving that way you leave your oven open for other things like cooking a bird.

Good Luck!

You can actually buy a small oven (similar to a large toaster oven) from Amazon.jp - we bought one that has a convection option and a rod to cook poultry and similar items. Not the same size as a western oven (though you can get those in Japan as well) but much easier to do baking. Although I survived a year with a small toaster oven baking just about everything with no problems (breads, rolls, cookies, cake, and all of that, just use a baking dish that fits inside the toaster oven, of course). You can definitely fit a pie dish in a regular toaster oven; I've done it.

Import stores often sell specialty items, and in Tokyo that kind of stuff is super easy to find - like canned pumpkin, turkey, sparkling cider, really anything. I haven't had any problems cooking a traditional dinner. (And in regards to kabocha, perhaps you've had it before but it really doesn't taste the same as pumpkin, when cooked it's a bit more like potatoes).

Mashed potatoes are easy on the stove, (easier if you have an immersion blender or food processor), and if you can't find turkey or don't want to bother with it, you can easily get chicken breasts, flavor them however you like and bake them in your toaster oven. You could make rolls or biscuits in your toaster oven as well, with a small cookie sheet (Amazon.jp has them but so do most hardware type stores, or places like Tokyu Hands or Loft are great for that kind of stuff). Stuffing can be baked in the toaster oven as well. I like the glass pyrex dishes, you can find those at various stores that sell kitchen goods. (Tokyu hands and Loft should have them as well, but if not Amazon.jp does).

If looking for recipes, you can use any that you may come across, not all recipes are geared for large amounts.

Hope this helps!

The toaster oven is great for crisping. You can definitely braise or pan-fry chicken and then crisp the skin in there -- I've done it many times in my (American) kitchen just because I don't like using the regular oven in summer.

If you're interested in a hot, stovetop dessert, you could always make rice pudding, pumpkin pudding, or something similar.

You should also be able to cook potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash in the microwave.

Good luck!

Thanks again for all the great tips. I wrote about the experience on my new blog:

http://notindcanymore.blogspot.com/2010/11/tokyo-thanksgiving.html