Spreadin' the turkey love

Happy Thanksgiving!

Until this week, I'd been feeling a bit down about Thanksgiving this year. It would be the first holiday spent without my family, I might have to work all day, and Eric would be away at training all week. I was afraid I would spend Thanksgiving in Germany alone! But, luckily, I had an epiphany. I know people! I can cook! Why shouldn't I have my own Thanksgiving?

So, having recently quit the lovely Thursday job, I didn't have to work at all. I invited the two girls from my German class for dinner. The most international Thanksgiving I can imagine hosting. Cibele is Brazilian and Alia is Canadian. She brought her boyfriend, a German with a sweet farmer connection, so she actually got her hands on a butternut squash. That sounds weird, I know, until you go shopping here and can't find anything for a traditional American turkey dinner. No whole turkeys, no cranberry sauce, no pie crusts, no pumpkins, no squash...

I improvised. I made two huge turkey things. I say things, because I have no idea what part of the turkey it actually was. I made my aunt's famous party potatoes, stuffing from a foodtv recipe, and pear tarts from frozen pastry in a box. I guessed when I bought it since I couldn't read the label! I even made cranberry sauce from scratch. That was a feat in and of itself since you can never get cranberries here. I did a litle dance when I saw a one lone bag in the produce section. I know, I'm a loser.

Dinner was lots of fun and it was nice to be able to have a real conversation! Sarcasm! Jokes! Cultural references! Cibele's English is great, and Ralph lived in the US for a long time, so we could actually talk. Eric even got to sneak away from training for a few hours at the end of the night, which was a big surprise. He got to meet the girls I talk about constantly, and it made me feel good to be able to host a party. I love entertaining, and haven't done it once here! It also felt nice to be able to have an evening with my own friends and not Eric's friends. Don't get me wrong, I love the guys Eric knows here, but it's cool to have made my own friends. Sometimes a girl just needs girls around...