It's funny being in France and celebrating more Thanksgivings than when I'm in the US, where the holiday is actually celebrated. It all started on Thursday with a fun, informal Mexican Thanksgiving at an American friend Jen's house where she made her delicious jenchiladas with butternut squash :) The idea behind the Mexican food was that it's something we all miss terribly in France, that you really can't find anywhere-- apparently there is one good Mexican restaurant in France but it's in Paris. The corn tortillas you buy in the store are actually corn and flour combined, so Jen used some that her parents had mailed. That day I had talked to Mom and Suzanne on the phone and hearing them cooking made me unexpectedly homesick so I was really thankful for this dinner and the next two that I had to look forward to :)
The following day was a really neat Thanksgiving celebration with all the language assistants because we got to share it with British assistants and French friends who had never experienced the holiday and didn't know what most the dishes were. I had a whale of a time cooking in France. First of all, it's difficult using American recipes in France where the ingredients can be hard to find. I ordered some things a couple weeks in advance online from My American Market. That day I went to the market and forgot to look up translation for spices so that took some time. Then I had to go back to the store a second time because I guessed wrong on the sugar I was getting, I hoped the sucre poudré would be powdered. I also had to carry everything I needed over to Dan's because he had an oven. Then he didn't have a can opener so I went a third time to the store for a can opener, but they didn't have any, since most cans have a tab on them to open. So fortunately a friend brought one over, an ancient one only she knew how to use. And everything was generally way slower to do in his "corner kitchen" which has one electric plate on the stove top, and an large toaster oven. I was late to the party after the bumpy day of cooking, but I brought my roommate and her good friend who were so eager to experience Thanksgiving and the food there didn't disappoint. It was so fun in the end. Mulled wine filled the air, until I cooked my ooey gooey pumpkin cakes in three seperate small batches, since of course I didn't have time to bake them earlier, and we didn't have a big enough pan to just make one. My cake was a huge hit though :) as was the broccoli casserole with walnuts that I made. The béchamel sauce was appreciated by the French. I'm bumming some pictures from before I got there, so there is way less food and fewer people in these, but you get the idea.
One last and more authentic Thanksgiving. My expat American friends with French boyfriend and fiance respectively have a traditional of making Thanksgiving meal. You have to order the turkey from the butcher weeks in advance and they're smaller because usually they're meant to be had for Christmas. Last year the turkey came with head and all, so they were happy that wasn't the case this year. They did however to call six butchers until they could find one who'd have a turkey in time. I got there early to help out in preparation...
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Love this memorable post.
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