Thanksgiving was not my favorite of holidays for most of my childhood. Call it the curse of the oldest grandchild. But it slowly grew on me until it engaged in an as-yet unfinished battle with Halloween for second place in my preferred holiday line-up. This year I had my first ex-patriot Thanksgiving with 10 Americans and a few Spaniards and Frenchies mixed in. Thanks to valiant efforts of Lauren and Bonnie-- by that I mean their willingness to relentlessly heckle a butcher-- we had a whole turkey, which is next to impossible here. We ate all the traditional stuff: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans almandine, stuffing, apple compote, creamed spinach, a lovely can-shaped cranberry sauce glob by which many were amazed, cider, lots of wine, and of course pumpkin pie-- three of them! We also had some new dishes, because how would it be an Ex-Pat holiday without adventure? I ate plantains (delish!), tortilla with potatoes, and an amazing deep-fried dessert made by Alberto; I don't know the name but they looked like beignets (french doughnuts). My only personal disappoint of the meal was my absolute failure at making a chocolate pie, the recipe for which I found on an apparently unreliable website. I have now officially learned the "never trust information on the internet" lesson our parents' generation keeps trying to instill in us. We ended up eating the pie as mousse-- and all's well that ends well. Here's our overflowing Table of Thanks:
I realize now how much I like the way Thanksgiving clearly marks the beginning of the Christmas season. In America, Christmas smacks you across the face with a candy cane. Starting that last Friday in November all the stores are playing holiday music and decked out in red, white, and green. Here it's a gradual transition. I don't hate it, but my heart did do a somersault when I saw a festive lamppost decoration lit up on my way home from work today. Now I am cuddled up chez moi, listening to a slightly bizarre Christmas music station on itunes radio... the song on now is a version of "Little Drummer Boy" by Lauryn Hill and Rosie O'Donnell... am I wrong to think that's a strange collaboration? Now it's switched to a horrible cover of "Last Christmas". Who on earth thinks they can sing it better than WHAM? In an ode to the Chingachgook JBU, here is my improv Last Christmas verse :
Last Christmas I lived in Lake George
But the lake was too cold, to swim and to play
This year, to save me from cold
I'll travel Southern Europe
With just over two weeks until I head back across the Atlantic to celebrate the holidays, I am trying to live French life to the fullest before true winter strikes. Yesterday I forced myself up before 11am, a rarity on Sundays, and rode my bike to an open-air market. I got my week's veggies and fruits, as well as a treat of candied strawberries mmm! Then Brittany and I grabbed a noon-time beer/coffee. It's liberating to live in a country that doesn't judge you for having a drink at lunchtime on Sunday. Then again, if it weren't for those uptight Puritans we might never have Thanksgiving, my tied-for-second-favorite-holiday, to start off the Christmas season right... not to mention I'd be distraught without that pumpkin pie.
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