Thanksgiving celebrations

Thanksgiving!  We celebrated twice, actually, despite my initial worries over the functionality of my new kitchen.

Since neither Thursday nor Friday were holidays here, of course, we decided to feast on Saturday and invite some of the kids' friends from school (who have never experienced a Thanksgiving dinner  -- we thought it might be fun for both our kids and their friends to try...)

 First, however, on the actual T-day, I decided I needed to try out the pumpkins and my new spring-form pie pan, so I cooked up the pumpkin in the morning, made a pie, and surprised Julia (who loves pumpkin pie) that evening.  I also stuck some chicken and potatoes in the oven for dinner so it smelled like Thanksgiving.  With about two hours notice, we spontaneously invited our upstairs neighbors and also Annalena (Thomas's goddaughter, who's a student here) for dessert.  The pie turned out well, and it felt great to celebrate a mini-Thanksgiving with new friends.

Panida and Sylvain, from the D.C. area of Maryland (but originally from Thailand and Montreal, Canada respectively) join us with their son Sebastian (not in the picture).  Annalena is smiling in the foreground -- she's never had pumpkin pie!

But, the big day was Saturday, and I needed to prepare to feed 8 people, three of whom I hardly knew or had never met.
Here I am on Friday out to search for butternut squash and another pumpkin (and therefore wearing my new hiking pack, which is the easiest way for me to carry heavy groceries)

Success!  Of course, almost everything is available at the Victualienmarkt ("Victuals market") downtown.

 By noon the next day the pumpkin was a pie, and the squash was roasted.

 There had been "some concern" in our household during the previous few weeks over a turkey... they are not common here at all.   A fresh turkey here must be specially ordered at a butchery, and when I had asked about one a few weeks previously they told me 11 Euro per kg(!), and that the turkeys are usually about 7 kg.  With some currency conversion, that turns out to be a $100 bird...   So I didn't order a fresh one then. 
   After bumping into a American woman at my gym, I found I could also order a fresh turkey for 7 Euro/kg at the large  grocery store near my old apartment -- but that was less that a week before I needed it and they told me it was impossible to order one in only 5 days... and no they didn't know where I could find a frozen turkey.   Arg.  Turkey is truly not common here!
  But the next day I was in a large downtown department store, which has a pretty large and fancy grocery section on the ground floor.  I decided to check the frozen meat selection, and lo and behold, mixed in with mostly frozen duck and goose, there was a lovely little 4 kg (9 lb) turkey!  Perfect.  And only 4 Euro/kg!

   While I roasted pumpkin and squash Saturday morning, I sent Thomas and Julia out to look for summer savory, the only herb I was missing to make my usual turkey stuffing.  They succeeded in finding it fresh (again at the Victualienmarkt) and so by midday all the supplies were on hand.

After getting the turkey in the oven, we enjoyed the exceptionally warm November day with a walk in the Englischer Garten, which is larger than Central Park, and which we can enter within a 10 minute walk from our apartment.

The kids' friends arrived at 5:30 (each with a gift of flowers or chocolate... very civilized!)  We sat down around our re-arranged table, extended with our bedroom desk, and covered with the two tablecloths I found in a drawer here.

Turkey time!  

Benjamin, Jona, Julia, Jana, Sandra.  Too bad it's not a better picture but Julia (the teenager) was mortified that I was taking a picture anyway, so I tried to be quick.

Julia had invited her two favorite friends here, Jana and Sandra, and Benjamin invited his  new good friend Jona.  (Annalena was also invited, but called that afternoon to say she was sick, unfortunately.)  None of these kids had ever tried turkey or squash or pumpkin pie before, and they were all a little nervous but excited.  Turns out they all liked everything (much to my relief).  And the mashed potatoes and gravy were a big hit too.

After dinner, the girls relaxed together (chatting, giggling...)   I'm so glad Julia's German has reached the point where she can socialize pretty easily.

Jana, Julia, Sandra.  (Due to more embarrassing picture taking by Mom...)

Benjamin's German is also much improved in the last few months.  He and Jona were also chatting away in German about whatever games and cards and magic monsters etc.  (Boy-talk always sounds somewhat random to me, but what do I know...)

Benjamin and Jona play a game on the iPod.

All in all, a truly thankful day.  We are so delighted the kids have good friends and good schools here, and that we are enjoying Munich so much. 

It's good to remember what Thanksgiving should be all about.