I have fond memories of Thanksgiving on the farm I grew up on. It was primarily a gathering of the German side of my family, with inlaws and outlaws descending for a true farm style feast that my Grandmother spend days preparing from what we grew and harvested on the farm. Goose, ham, root vegies, legumes, apple pies, and dandelion wine that my sisters had picked the flowers for.
But for a long time, we haven't celebrated the day Native Americans may or may not have fed the undocumented immigrants come to take their land away, my ancestors among them. I love to cook, so I often prepared dinner for whomever was nearby. Usually goose, a tribute to my German heritage.
This year, some new British friends invited us to their ancient manor house in rolling hills of Bretagne for "Thanks Giving" day, with wonderful roast duck, Yorkshire pudding, crispy dressing, roasted potatoes, key lime pie, and lovely ginger based non-alcoholic drinks. One of them said a beautiful prayer of gratitude that she'd composed. We were, indeed, grateful for their kind invitation.
As Meister Eckhart wrote: "If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
The first 42 Thanksgivings in my life were complicated: Divorced parents who remarried and most of the extended four families lived nearby, so my sister and I attended 3 or 4 traditional turkey meals between noon and 7pm. It was exhausting. And no one in my house even enjoys turkey.
For the past 12 years, things have gotten much, much easier: The four of us often opt to have a cozy day at home and we've created food traditions that work for us: 2 savory pies for dinner and 2 sweet ones for dessert. Easy peasy.
I can relate, wholeheartedly. When we lived in the US, we usually found something else to do (generally) here in France, (or we were flying that night) on Thanksgiving. Occasionally, back in the US, I'd do a "Thanksgiving dinner" the week before or after we returned. This year, the Adrian Leeds Group (Adrian is best known on House Hunters International as "the US Expat Realtor" who helps people find a place to rent or buy in France) coordinated their 2nd annual expat Thanksgiving dinner at a nearby cafe, that they ended up "buying out" for the meal. They sold tickets, sold out, and we spent our day with 63 other expats from the US and Canada. It was almost as good as my own cooking to be honest. This was our first time eating "French turkey" though and I missed my dark meat. Although noticeably missing was the stuffing (from Pepperidge Farm stuffing cubes), mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce. Here in Nice, it was impossible to find cranberries or the Ocean Spray sauce. I didn't realize you can just order the whole berries from a fruit store. Who knew? I really only wanted the fresh cranberries because I saw a cute recipe online, to put them in ice cube trays with a slice of orange and a twig of (I think) rosemary, fill the trays with water (or was it wine?) and freeze, and then drop it in a white wine glass (for decoration) before adding your wine. It's really not hard to pass on cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I spent the majority of my adult life hosting Thanksgiving dinners for the family at our place. In the last 15-16 years, we've passed on Thanksgiving dinner, more than we've imbibed. Good for you for taking a stand and sticking to it! Happy "unthanksgiving". It's all of our "new French" life. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season. xo
Ah, after 15 years out of the US we still make a gesture in the direction of Thanksgiving. But never with turkey. Just a Sunday-style dinner ... this year with magret de canard (with a sauce seasoned with shallots and cherry juice), glazed shallots, roasted veg and pistachio tart. As for cranberries, I grew up in cranberry country (southeastern MA) surrounded by cranberry bogs, so they're not just for Thanksgiving and not just for cranberry sauce (but try the cranberry sauce with venison, marcassin, or hare as well). Hard to find, but whenever we spot them we get them !
Like you, I gave up on Thanksgiving quickly once I moved to France. There also wasn't much in it for our kids, although I'm happy one lives in the USA now and gets to experience it there.
We celebrate Thanksgiving in recent years with non.traditional foods - sometimes grilled steaks and chicken, sometimes with Italian food. Most of us don’t care for turkey.
The important thing is being together….3 generations enjoying each other.
Ah, but the French turkeys, which have been hung for awhile, are so amazingly flavorful. Try one at Christmas. I agree, when we lived in Europe, it made sense to forget about a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Being Welsh/British we do not celebrate Thanksgiving. However since living in France we have chosen to celebrate Christmas as they do - a meal in Xmas Eve and no turkey and Xmas pudding on Xmas day. It works for us 🤗
Totally get it - Thanksgiving overseas only makes sense of you're among American ex-pats. Otherwise it's just ... lonely? Meantime, here's a cranberry recipe that's super easy and, holy yum, does it ever go well with a blob of plain yogurt. In a food processor, just pulse the living shit out of one bag of cranberries (16 oz), one cored but unpeeled green apple, one unpeeled but de-seeded naval orange, and one cup of granulated sugar. Done. Eat it. Delish.
The Grand Frais supermarket in our area has fresh cranberries once a year, but they are not cheap! Still, it’s great to make fresh cranberry sauce, and very easy: 1 lb fresh cranberries, 1.5 Cups of sugar (I use Muscovado), 1 Cup Rum. Dump the cranberries into a covered, oven-proof skillet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake covered in a 250F oven (120C!) for one hour, then add rum and continue baking uncovered until the rum evaporates. You may want to adjust the quantities to your liking (I used less rum this year). Try not to stir too much so the berries stay intact. I cut the above recipe in half and it was still plenty for 7 people. For me it isn’t Thanksgiving dinner without cranberry sauce! This is also a great excuse to buy a bottle of Caribbean rum:)
I have fond memories of Thanksgiving on the farm I grew up on. It was primarily a gathering of the German side of my family, with inlaws and outlaws descending for a true farm style feast that my Grandmother spend days preparing from what we grew and harvested on the farm. Goose, ham, root vegies, legumes, apple pies, and dandelion wine that my sisters had picked the flowers for.
But for a long time, we haven't celebrated the day Native Americans may or may not have fed the undocumented immigrants come to take their land away, my ancestors among them. I love to cook, so I often prepared dinner for whomever was nearby. Usually goose, a tribute to my German heritage.
This year, some new British friends invited us to their ancient manor house in rolling hills of Bretagne for "Thanks Giving" day, with wonderful roast duck, Yorkshire pudding, crispy dressing, roasted potatoes, key lime pie, and lovely ginger based non-alcoholic drinks. One of them said a beautiful prayer of gratitude that she'd composed. We were, indeed, grateful for their kind invitation.
As Meister Eckhart wrote: "If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”
The first 42 Thanksgivings in my life were complicated: Divorced parents who remarried and most of the extended four families lived nearby, so my sister and I attended 3 or 4 traditional turkey meals between noon and 7pm. It was exhausting. And no one in my house even enjoys turkey.
For the past 12 years, things have gotten much, much easier: The four of us often opt to have a cozy day at home and we've created food traditions that work for us: 2 savory pies for dinner and 2 sweet ones for dessert. Easy peasy.
Nice!!!
I can relate, wholeheartedly. When we lived in the US, we usually found something else to do (generally) here in France, (or we were flying that night) on Thanksgiving. Occasionally, back in the US, I'd do a "Thanksgiving dinner" the week before or after we returned. This year, the Adrian Leeds Group (Adrian is best known on House Hunters International as "the US Expat Realtor" who helps people find a place to rent or buy in France) coordinated their 2nd annual expat Thanksgiving dinner at a nearby cafe, that they ended up "buying out" for the meal. They sold tickets, sold out, and we spent our day with 63 other expats from the US and Canada. It was almost as good as my own cooking to be honest. This was our first time eating "French turkey" though and I missed my dark meat. Although noticeably missing was the stuffing (from Pepperidge Farm stuffing cubes), mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce. Here in Nice, it was impossible to find cranberries or the Ocean Spray sauce. I didn't realize you can just order the whole berries from a fruit store. Who knew? I really only wanted the fresh cranberries because I saw a cute recipe online, to put them in ice cube trays with a slice of orange and a twig of (I think) rosemary, fill the trays with water (or was it wine?) and freeze, and then drop it in a white wine glass (for decoration) before adding your wine. It's really not hard to pass on cooking Thanksgiving dinner. I spent the majority of my adult life hosting Thanksgiving dinners for the family at our place. In the last 15-16 years, we've passed on Thanksgiving dinner, more than we've imbibed. Good for you for taking a stand and sticking to it! Happy "unthanksgiving". It's all of our "new French" life. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season. xo
Use the same wine you will be drinking to make those ice cubes please as it won’t dilute the wine you drink. ☺️
Although there were a number of people here who gathered yesterday for a delicious turkey dinner at a local bistro. 😋
That sounds nice! Community.
It was a lovely afternoon.
Ah, after 15 years out of the US we still make a gesture in the direction of Thanksgiving. But never with turkey. Just a Sunday-style dinner ... this year with magret de canard (with a sauce seasoned with shallots and cherry juice), glazed shallots, roasted veg and pistachio tart. As for cranberries, I grew up in cranberry country (southeastern MA) surrounded by cranberry bogs, so they're not just for Thanksgiving and not just for cranberry sauce (but try the cranberry sauce with venison, marcassin, or hare as well). Hard to find, but whenever we spot them we get them !
That menu sounds outstanding !!
Like you, I gave up on Thanksgiving quickly once I moved to France. There also wasn't much in it for our kids, although I'm happy one lives in the USA now and gets to experience it there.
Cranberry sauce on yogurt would be lovely!
We celebrate Thanksgiving in recent years with non.traditional foods - sometimes grilled steaks and chicken, sometimes with Italian food. Most of us don’t care for turkey.
The important thing is being together….3 generations enjoying each other.
Ah, but the French turkeys, which have been hung for awhile, are so amazingly flavorful. Try one at Christmas. I agree, when we lived in Europe, it made sense to forget about a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.
Being Welsh/British we do not celebrate Thanksgiving. However since living in France we have chosen to celebrate Christmas as they do - a meal in Xmas Eve and no turkey and Xmas pudding on Xmas day. It works for us 🤗
Totally get it - Thanksgiving overseas only makes sense of you're among American ex-pats. Otherwise it's just ... lonely? Meantime, here's a cranberry recipe that's super easy and, holy yum, does it ever go well with a blob of plain yogurt. In a food processor, just pulse the living shit out of one bag of cranberries (16 oz), one cored but unpeeled green apple, one unpeeled but de-seeded naval orange, and one cup of granulated sugar. Done. Eat it. Delish.
Sounds great. I don’t have room for a food processor , but maybe my stick blender will work. Are the cranberries raw?
Everything is raw. It all turns into a gritty, pretty, delicious relish.
The Grand Frais supermarket in our area has fresh cranberries once a year, but they are not cheap! Still, it’s great to make fresh cranberry sauce, and very easy: 1 lb fresh cranberries, 1.5 Cups of sugar (I use Muscovado), 1 Cup Rum. Dump the cranberries into a covered, oven-proof skillet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake covered in a 250F oven (120C!) for one hour, then add rum and continue baking uncovered until the rum evaporates. You may want to adjust the quantities to your liking (I used less rum this year). Try not to stir too much so the berries stay intact. I cut the above recipe in half and it was still plenty for 7 people. For me it isn’t Thanksgiving dinner without cranberry sauce! This is also a great excuse to buy a bottle of Caribbean rum:)