When I asked my American girlfriend here, Rachel, if she would want to do Thanksgiving together--it was a no-brainer, California style "Oh my gosh--YES!" She is the only one in our circle of friends with an actual oven (most folks here have microwave ovens), so having Thanksgiving at her house was also a no-brainer. We invited Anél and Hertzog (South African), Jason (an American guy in Elliot's program), and our wonderful Dutch neighbors, Ilonka and Klaartje. One question though: where do we get turkey? And stuffing? Cranberry sauce?
Pumpkin pie?
Well, she found a specialty "wild bird" butcher with turkeys! We got a cute 8-pounder to feed the 9 of us. The rest of the Thanksgiving ingredients were all made from scratch. Everything turned out heavenly. It was Rachel's first time cooking a turkey and making a stuffing (from scratch!) and it couldn't have been more tasty. Anél brought potato mash and green beans in a divine bacon, feta, mushroom mix. Ilonka and Klaartje made a salad and a pumpkin tart--oh, so good! I made cranberry sauce, yams, and mini pumpkin pies that turned out pretty good, for a first time pie maker. We had so much delicious food and we ate it all!
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| Rachel proud of her bird! |
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| Jason, our carver |
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| My neighbors, Ilonka and Klaartje--and her pumpkin tart! |
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| my mini pies |
Throughout dinner, we talked about various traditions in everyone's families and made the rounds of what we're thankful for. Family, friends, and our health. Good food, good wine, and the people we love in our lives. A wonderful year in Rotterdam that exceeded all expectations.
And the opportunity to meet new people and make new friendships that we know will last a lifetime.
This is the most tender of blog entries...sharing thanksgiving with others in another country...so much to be thankful for and to share ths tradition with others. What a special evening.....reminds us of our Thanksgivings in Iran, Mexico, south Pacific...these are the ones we treasure... Lov to you and Elliot. Diane
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