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GALLERYBases around the world gear up to support Thanksgiving for troops
Stars and Stripes
November 26, 2014
Thanksgiving turkeys await customers at La Bella Visa Club on Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014. A half dozen cooks were preparing meals to go for about two dozen families as well as for a sit-down affair Thursday for about 220 people. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Thanksgiving is not a holiday for cooks, professional or amateur, on or off base.
At Aviano Air Base, Mary Ann Lauro, the executive chef of La Bella Vista Club, and a handful of helpers on Wednesday were preparing Thanksgiving lunch for more than 200 people expected to fill the dining room on Thursday. There’s seating for 220 and 215 reservations had been made through early Wednesday afternoon.
“But if someone shows up, we’ll try to feed them,” Lauro said.
Some of the food on tap: turkey, sweet potatoes, ambrosia salad, dressing, mashed potatoes, roast beef, ham, corn, green bean casserole, baked potatoes and salmon. And there was an array of pies and cakes for dessert.
People also had the option of ordering full meals or parts of meals to go. Lauro said about 20 families purchased full meals to take home this year, with others choosing just turkeys or a few other items.
Like bases around the world, the dining facility was planning a special meal.
As it does every year, the military has special meals prepared for those serving in downrange locations where cooking really isn’t an option.
Thanksgiving turkeys await customers at La Bella Visa Club on Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014. A half dozen cooks were preparing meals to go for about two dozen families as well as for a sit-down affair Thursday for about 220 people. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
A Thanksgiving meal prepared by La Bella Vista Club on Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Nov. 26, 2014, includes just about everything a family could eat, including a turkey (not shown here).
(Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
They might start out in cans, but the sweet potatoes that Thanksgiving diners will get at La Bella Visa Club on Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Nov. 27, 2014, get a lot of accompanying ingredients and care before diners dig in.
(Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
These turkeys will be in the oven at La Bella Vista Club, Aviano Air Base, Italy, for hours before being picked apart by hungry Thanksgiving diners on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Jen Cline takes sweet potatoes from a can and distributes them into a tray at La Bella Vista Club, Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Nov. 26, 2014. The club expects to feed at least 220 people for a Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday.
(Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Mary Ann Lauro, executive chef at La Bella Vista Club, Aviano Air Base, Italy, pours a caramel sauce she's crafted onto sweet potatoes Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014, while preparing for a large Thanksgiving gathering at the club. She'd later add marshmallows and pecans. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
It's Thanksgiving and time to dig out the cornucopia that symbolizes the array of food that will grace the tables of many Americans around the world. This one is at La Bella Vista Club, Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Take-away Thanksgiving meals are kept warm at La Bella Vista Club, Aviano Air Base, Italy, on Nov. 26, 2014, awaiting pickup from customers. Executive chef Mary Ann Lauro and her staff have been producing the meals for the last six years.
(Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Whether it's "young stuff" or other stuff, the staff at La Bella Vista Club has been working around the clock preparing Thanksgiving meals for members of the Aviano Air Base community to eat on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014.
(Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
A tray of sweet potatoes ready to go into the oven sits next to one that needs several finishing touches on Nov, 26, 2014, at La Bella Vista Club, Aviano Air Base, Italy. The club plans to feed about 220 people Thursday and prepared to-go meals for dozens more.
(Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)