I got to throw on my sweatpants and a t-shirt (in Paris? *gasp*) this morning at 7:30 because today was Thanksgiving and I couldn't think of anything better than passing the morning in my sweats!! Wahoo! Taylor and I woke up around 7:30 and set off to pick up a chicken (there really aren't very many places you can buy a whole turkey here....for less than 30 euros) and get ready for our shining moment.
I had been on the hunt for American ingredients for a few weeks and have been gathering my recipes from family and friends and getting a schedule together. Thanksgiving, the American food store here, was a gift from heaven...as I was able to find most things there. (At a steep price of course...a can of cream of mushroom soup? 4 euros. A bag of marshmallows? 5 euros. Karo syrup? 7 euros. Yet somehow, for this one day...totally worth it.)
Marie-Césare is sick, so Didou graciously offered to come and watch her while I cooked and had my friends over. I am such a lucky, lucky girl to have found such a wonderful family. I got into the kitchen and immediately got back in the swing of cooking again. I was shouting orders at Taylor, pulling things in and out of the oven as fast as the blink of an eye, and watching the clock as to be certain not to run out of time. We even threw in a super last minute pan of homemade rolls. How's that for impressive?
Since our friends wanted a very traditional American Thanksgiving, our menu included: roasted chicken, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn pudding, dressing, cranberry gelatin salad, yeast rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and good ol' southern sweet tea. Oh, and real milk and Hellman's mayonnaise RANCH with veggies as an appetizer. Quite a menu for the two of us to take on for our first Thanksgiving. I was able to make the sweet potato casserole, gelatin salad, and pecan pie the day before which eased the work load slightly. Everything turned out well (except for the pecan pie*), and I only had to text my mother and grandmother once or twice!
I don't know why I haven't learned my lesson yet, but I should always delegated the baking in any case to someone else. I hate baking. It's so exact and everything has to be measured out perfectly. Yuck...who wants to cook like that? For the lack of 9 inch pie pans (or pie pans in general) in France, I had to make the pecan pie in a quiche/tart pan. It was quite big, therefore allowing the filling to spread out. I thought...oh well, no big deal, I will just cook it a little less and it will be fine. Nope. The crust on the bottom wasn't even done and it was too sugary.
*Granny, I'm sorry but I have failed even your simplest pecan pie recipe.
We put the expander in Chloé and Franck's dining room table, and pulled the chairs in from the terrace. I put a tablecloth, nice dishes, even some flowers on the table. It was not quite so Thanksgiving-ish, but quite perfect I will say. First thing on the table? For my tradition-seeking friends: Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce that when you take the gelatinous blob out, it still keeps the shape of the can. No one eats it, but for some reason its an American Thanksgiving staple. A crowd favorite? The corn pudding. Everyone raved about the corn pudding....and really, how can you go wrong? It's probably my favorite as well. I told my mom today I loved her more than corn pudding. Now that's love.
It certainly beats last years Thanksgiving at McDonalds. Today, I was surrounded by friends from every corner of the world, in my families' Parisian apartment, playing the "game" as they called it of what we were thankful for. And what we all had in common? Our realization that this opportunity we all have to live and work here in Paris, and have the experiences and chances and being able to have the world at our fingertips is unlike any other. I am thankful first and foremost for the best family and friends any girl could ever ask for back in the States, whom I miss dearly and I would have given anything to have them seated around me at the table. Secondly, to my precious host family in Paris who have included me as one of their own and trust and cherish the relationship we have with one another. And, I am thankful for being able to spend another month in France. For my visa not being instantly denied so that I can still eat world class croissants, marvel at the intricacies of the Sacre-Coeur, and to be able to sit around the Eiffel Tower with a bottle of Pinot Noir a little while longer.
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