I know the timing of this topic is way out of sync, but this was my first opportunity to write about our "Thanksgiving" dinner in Germany. I have said before that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the relaxing, no-hype, family centeredness of the day. Upon reflection, I realized that my perspective might be skewed because I have never really been responsible for everything that goes into Thanksgiving dinner. Mom and Nanny ran the show all the way through college, then Tate and I travelled to one side of the family or the other every year after that. So this year, when Tate announced that we were having our friends over for a full fledged Thanksgiving dinner, I panicked! You know the joke about the husband having to pick one room he wants his wife to be spectacular in? Suffice it to say, my room is not the kitchen by a landslide. ;)
It would have felt far less nerve racking if we were in the States and I could fall back on the standard Thanksgiving dinner staples: Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, canned cranberries, Stove Top Stuffing, jello with carrots and Giant Eagle's pumpkin pie. But no one sells cream of mushroom soup, Durkee fried onion strips, canned cranberries, Stove Top Stuffing, jello, or bakery made pumpkin pie here. This was going to be a challenge, but Tate was counting on me and quite frankly it was time to grow up and learn to cook.
I dove right into the deep end and started with the pumpkin pie. My interpretation of a homemade pumpkin pie would be the frozen Ritz pie crust and gussied up canned pumpkin. Unfortunately, my recon missions through four different grocery stores revealed neither pre-made pie crust, nor canned pumpkin. "From scratch" took on a whole new meaning. I googled and found that there are some types of pumpkins that are better for baking into a pie, so I began a trial and error period, roasting and mashing several different types of pumpkins. Concurrently, I had to learn how to bake a pie crust from scratch which also took several iterations. I think we ate 3 whole pumpkin pies in the month leading up to the actual dinner. But I found the right combination and was feeling good.
Of course, our guests wanted to bring something so I told them to bring an Appetizer. She is an excellent cook so I figured whatever she brought would be delicious and if I crashed and burned we could just drink a lot of good German wine and then no one would care how everything else tasted. To stick with the theme, she googled "Thanksgiving appetizers". I'm not sure which website she utilized but she brought puff pastries, homemade cornbread and homemade coleslaw.
Sharing this great American tradition with them turned out to be an education for all four of us. For example:
1. They don't really cook a whole turkey here. It was so funny to see both of them right behind
Tate, looking over his shoulder, as he uncovered the turkey and started to carve it up.
2. They had never heard of or tried:
a) dark meat
b) sweet potato casserole - It turns out that sweet potatoes (and cranberries) became part
of the produce section over here less than a decade ago.
c) pumpkin pie - This one surprised me the most because they grow pumpkins all over the
place here. In fact they just stack them on the side of the road and you pay on the honor
system when you stop to pick some up. Apparently, pumpkin is just for soup and roasting
as a side veggie. For whatever reason, it just isn't on their radar to make a dessert with
pumpkin.
3. Stuffing made from German bread is phenomenal!
4. They loved the combination of turkey+stuffing+cranberries and turkey+stuffing+gravy.
5. They were curious why we fixed SO MUCH food. I wasn't sure how to fully answer that. Part
of it goes back to the original bountiful harvest, but part of it is just our culture of excess.
6. "Doggie bag" is not a term they had ever heard. Leftovers are not very common here because portion sizes are much more reasonable. I had an idea where it came from, but googled it anyway so I could properly explain it. Here is the link if you are curious.
I am so glad Tate insisted on doing this dinner. First, it was a huge growing experience for me as a cook. I learned how to make, from legit scratch: stuffing, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Second, we brought a little bit of "home" to our friends here. Third, the dinner was delicious - if I do say so my damn self. But most importantly, we spent the night sharing, laughing and creating memories- just the way Thanksgiving is suppose to be.
