Happy Thanksgiving!

Kyle and I have been really excited for Thanksgiving. Europe doesn't recognize it as a holiday (in fact most people don't know what it is) so sadly, it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving here. Plus Kyle had to work from eight to five but I guess with him being gone it's given me time to start cooking. We found out the missionaries didn't have any plans so we invited them over to join us for dinner. The missionaries here are great so it should be a blast. I've been fortunate every Thanksgiving holiday to have a mom (since last year a mother-in-law), grandmas and aunts with amazing cooking skills prepare a wonderfully huge meal and countless pies. This is my first Thanksgiving away from home so it will be a little different but we are going to make the best of it! Here is the meal plan I've come up with:

1. Roasted duck
2. La patate douce ( yams)
3. Cranberry apple stuffing with pecans
4. Mashed potatoes and gravy (must have classic)
5. Steamed green beans with almonds

Duck is Perigord's specialty (Perigord is the region of France we live in). So we decided to mix things up a bit by preparing a different bird this year...I haven't cooked duck yet so this should be interesting. On a side note, a special appetizer they make here with duck is called fois gras in which the ducks are forced fed until their livers become huge and then sadly those cute ducks are killed and their livers are ground up into a spread that is put onto bread and crackers for one to enjoy. I secretly like it but try real hard not to think of those ducks when eating it! Fois gras is especially popular during Christmas for the whole country of France but it is served year-round in Perigord.

The branch here in Perigueux had a Thanksgiving activity last week where everyone brought as close to American Thanksgiving food as possible. I brought sweet potatoes with marshmallows baked on top to share with everyone. When they saw that there was sugar on a vegetable it took everything for them to not throw up...haha the French have this thing about not mixing salty and sweet foods. A few brave souls dared to try it and afterwards raved about it which made me feel better. Quick fact about the French: most absolutely can not eat salty foods (eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, ect) for breakfast. It's usually a baguette or croissant with jam, butter and tea or hot chocolate. Sorry IHOP, you probably couldn't start a franchise here...

I haven't ever made stuffing before but it seems pretty easy. My mom sent me a recipe that sounds delicious and I can't wait to try it with the bread I bought from the boulangerie (French bakery) down the street. Sadly I couldn't find dried cranberries (or fresh ones for that matter) at the supermarket so it might just have to be apple-pecan stuffing.

Mashed potatoes and gravy, for me, this is the second thing after turkey that comes to mind for a Thanksgiving meal. Super easy and real inexpensive to make for these growing, hungry 19-year-old missionaries.

Fresh vegetables are a huge part of the French diet here. There are a lot at the grocery store I don't even recognize...thankfully haricots verts (green beans) are one that I do know and love. My cute mom sent another recipe how to prepare them all fancy. I've tried this yummy recipe before, the only downfall is that it calls for bacon which doesn't really exist here. They do have something called lardons (sounds good huh?) I might use which is similar to bacon and surprisingly really good especially in salads and pastas.

Now for dessert I chose to make a classic American apple pie. France doesn't have pies (they secretly can't make a good cake either), just tarts and pastries. And they don't have pie dishes so I had to make do using a tart pan. I haven't ever made a pie for Thanksgiving before so I was crossing my fingers it would turn out ok. Here is a picture of the finished product (I am pleased the way it looks but the real test is on the inside):

Are you proud mom?! I brushed milk on the top and then sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon to make it look pretty. I just took it out of the oven and now I am getting real hungry...

So, all this baking is going to take place in the next three hours, in my rather small kitchen that only has 2 burners and a large toaster oven. I've got Christmas music playing to motivate me (thank you sweet husband for not complaining when I started listening to it 2 weeks ago). Keeping everything warm and timing it all out is going to be the real challenge!