The morning alarm sounded far too early after a late Saturday night in lab, but a fresh turkey awaited pick-up and a host of cooking projects had to be completed in only a few hours. Peter and I started the day with a stroll arm in arm to the local butcher who'd specially ordered our turkey. Arriving a few minutes early (yes, me, early, believe it or not!), we found the butcher at work stuffing our holiday bird which still boasted its black-feathered head. There was something charming about stopping at a nearby café for a Sunday morning coffee and hot cocoa while the neighborhood butcher prepared the animal he'd just received from a farmer he actually knew, as though I'd been dropped into a staged French village and was told to play along.
As I'm incredibly lucky to have a friendly neighbor and colleague with an oven, we were able to drop off our turkey just around the corner and get to work on all the other baking projects we had lined up, from cornbread to eggnog scones to sweet potato casserole and a second stuffing cooked outside of the bird. Peter even added to the holiday spirit with a homemade eggnog prepared the night before.
Soon enough, the apartment filled with the smell of Thanksgiving and the doorbell began ringing with the arrival of friends. Surrounded by some of the family we've made for ourselves far from our respective homes, I celebrated this year with people (most of whom were newcomers to the holiday) from France, England, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Bulgaria, and of course, the good old U-S-of-A.
Celebrating Thanksgiving abroad is no simple feat, but on my sixth year
celebrating the holiday abroad, "expat Thanksgiving" is starting to become my new normal. I'm proud to say that we checked off all the essential boxes: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie (well, cheesecake), and more.
We might have enjoyed the holiday a week and a half late. The Eiffel Tower out the window added a less-than-American flare. What's more, we didn't even have a table nor the space to seat us all at once, but in the company of dear friends and good food, laughing together and stuffing ourselves, I think we can say we enjoyed a proper Thanksgiving.
As I'm incredibly lucky to have a friendly neighbor and colleague with an oven, we were able to drop off our turkey just around the corner and get to work on all the other baking projects we had lined up, from cornbread to eggnog scones to sweet potato casserole and a second stuffing cooked outside of the bird. Peter even added to the holiday spirit with a homemade eggnog prepared the night before.
Soon enough, the apartment filled with the smell of Thanksgiving and the doorbell began ringing with the arrival of friends. Surrounded by some of the family we've made for ourselves far from our respective homes, I celebrated this year with people (most of whom were newcomers to the holiday) from France, England, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Bulgaria, and of course, the good old U-S-of-A.
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| Our Thanksgiving table |
We might have enjoyed the holiday a week and a half late. The Eiffel Tower out the window added a less-than-American flare. What's more, we didn't even have a table nor the space to seat us all at once, but in the company of dear friends and good food, laughing together and stuffing ourselves, I think we can say we enjoyed a proper Thanksgiving.
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