EuroTurkey
Butterball turkey, tofurkey, heritage turkey...this year it was the Euroturkey. Also known as the two largest whole chickens in all of Zurich.
The timing of our trip to Zurich was for 'almost' Thankgiving. We have had Thanksgiving with Martha for 5 years. This makes 6 and our first on Sunday, and not in the US, for both of us. So, rather than feel sad about our friends and family miles away digging into tasty stuffing and turkey (don't even bring up the side dishes), we made our own.
In order to get an authentic start, we did our shopping on Saturday night, at the only market in Zurich open past 4 pm. So there were lines backed up in to half the store. It was almost like Trader Joe's the Wednesday night before.
We went for a nice hike in the morning, up the hill (mountain in Holland) behind Martha's house. It was beautiful.
Martha had invited over a group of friends, together we put on a spread of roasted chicken with mushroom gravey, cheesey mashed potatoes, bakery rolls, almost cranberry sauce (some sort of scandianvian berry for eating with venison, but whatever), green beans, Martha's spinach salad, herbed butter, Dutch cheese, apple cobbler, pumpkin bread (from a real imported Trader Joe's mix - which was the thrill of the party!), french chocolate mousse, and swiss truffles. We drank wine, ate our Thanksgiving dinner, and toasted to friends we were with and friends and family that we couldn't be with.
We concluded with the traditional viewing of an animated film - The Incredibles. Thankfully Elena fell asleep quickly, as it was a bit more violent than we had anticipated.
It was really nice - and amazingly special that we could spend another Thanksgiving with Martha, even halfway around the world. And even if we missed Heather a lot....
Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures of the event - they are on Mart's camera. But here is Elena waiting to dig in.
Amazingly, as we returned to Utrecht, it really was like Thanksgiving, all the Christmas decorations were put up in Schipol and in downtown Utrecht while we were gone.
Today, the actual Thanksgiving Day was hard, and easy. Hard because we know that all of our family and friends are gathered around various tables sharing in the great dinner and company. Easy because it was just a normal day. The Dutch aren't celebrating, so we don't smell the turkey we are missing. I went to Dutch classes this evening and we had leftover pasta for dinner. However, we are acutely aware of the distance. And though this opportunity is a great blessing. So is living close to family.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends
The timing of our trip to Zurich was for 'almost' Thankgiving. We have had Thanksgiving with Martha for 5 years. This makes 6 and our first on Sunday, and not in the US, for both of us. So, rather than feel sad about our friends and family miles away digging into tasty stuffing and turkey (don't even bring up the side dishes), we made our own.
In order to get an authentic start, we did our shopping on Saturday night, at the only market in Zurich open past 4 pm. So there were lines backed up in to half the store. It was almost like Trader Joe's the Wednesday night before.
We went for a nice hike in the morning, up the hill (mountain in Holland) behind Martha's house. It was beautiful.
Martha had invited over a group of friends, together we put on a spread of roasted chicken with mushroom gravey, cheesey mashed potatoes, bakery rolls, almost cranberry sauce (some sort of scandianvian berry for eating with venison, but whatever), green beans, Martha's spinach salad, herbed butter, Dutch cheese, apple cobbler, pumpkin bread (from a real imported Trader Joe's mix - which was the thrill of the party!), french chocolate mousse, and swiss truffles. We drank wine, ate our Thanksgiving dinner, and toasted to friends we were with and friends and family that we couldn't be with.
We concluded with the traditional viewing of an animated film - The Incredibles. Thankfully Elena fell asleep quickly, as it was a bit more violent than we had anticipated.
It was really nice - and amazingly special that we could spend another Thanksgiving with Martha, even halfway around the world. And even if we missed Heather a lot....
Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures of the event - they are on Mart's camera. But here is Elena waiting to dig in.
Amazingly, as we returned to Utrecht, it really was like Thanksgiving, all the Christmas decorations were put up in Schipol and in downtown Utrecht while we were gone.
Today, the actual Thanksgiving Day was hard, and easy. Hard because we know that all of our family and friends are gathered around various tables sharing in the great dinner and company. Easy because it was just a normal day. The Dutch aren't celebrating, so we don't smell the turkey we are missing. I went to Dutch classes this evening and we had leftover pasta for dinner. However, we are acutely aware of the distance. And though this opportunity is a great blessing. So is living close to family.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends
posted by Erin K. | 12:37 PM
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