Turkey Day

Again, a blog long overdue but about the adventures of celebrating Thanksgiving in a country that doesn't.

Being that there were only a few of us and we were all a long way from home on a holiday typically spent with friends and family, we thought we would get together to celebrate Turkey Day the way we normally would if we were home. The invitation was extended to the French students who were with us at VLS last year and their friends. We celebrated on a Saturday though instead of Thursday since we still had class.

Recipes were found, certain ingredients brought back from the states (pumpkin pie puree being essential to any Thanksgiving meal), and the meal prepared, with each person bringing something of their own.

First thing on the list after we all agreed to celebrate Turkey Day was finding a turkey. I had seen turkey thighs and breasts at the grocery store but no whole turkey. Also per Eliza's request (one of the other Americans) we were searching for an organic turkey. Now, turkeys in France (and all their meat) tends to be more organic that what you would normally find in the states since they have laws against injecting hormones, etc. into their animals. Now the problem with finding the turkey wasn't so much that it needed to be organic, but that we were looking "early in the season" by French standards. Still, I managed to get a turkey from the butcher down the street.

Question number two: knowing how much turkey we eat at Thanksgiving, what is the biggest turkey that will fit in my little oven? Well, a not quite 6 kilo (under 13 pounds) bird barely fits in my oven. But, we got it in there, stuffed it with apples and onions, and kept that puppy juicy till the end. I don't think I have ever seen a turkey suck up that much broth/water over 4 hours!
Every time we went in to rotate the bird and baste it we had to add more liquid! The effort was well worth it though because that bird sure was juicy!

Dinner was awesome, everyone brought something with them, and we had tons and tons of food! We had yams and mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, gravy, good wine, pies, chocolate mousse...I think we ate till we were stuffed! Lots and lots of leftovers to boot! Those leftovers became turkey quesadillas a few nights later, then turkey and veggie thai not to long after that.

Thanksgiving alwasy takes a long time to prepare, but it's always fun to have friend together for a nice meal, some good wine, good conversation and some fun games at the end of the week.