Thanksgiving 2006 Report

Although there is some sort of German harvest holiday in early October, their harvest-fest-day doesn't even register as an official holiday (and this from the place where Mary Ascension Day is a holiday, so you KNOW it's really not a holiday people celebrate... kinda like Sweetest Day or some other Hallmark Holiday in the U.S.).

I couldn't find any description of it online, or even the name of it, but people did tell me there was a harvest holiday (back around October 3rd or 4th, I think).

No matter, we had a full Thanksgiving table on November 23rd (had to put the extra table leaf in and tilt it sideways to accommodate everyone including high chairs). The guests consisted mostly of Martin's colleagues who had caught wind of the "American" holiday and wanted to see what it was all about, so... we obliged. Word spread quickly about the 11 kg (23 lb.) whole turkey we had in our freezer, as it is not normal at all to have such a thing in the house (although I'm told goose and duck are common over Christmas).

The sage-n-celery bread stuffing, cranberry salad (a tradition in our family, made with pineapple, walnuts, cran. sauce, and cherry Jello), cranberry sauce (from scratch, can't get the cans here and can only get the fresh whole cranberries in November/December), cornbread muffins, and sweet potatoes baked with apples, cinnamon, and raisins were all new to the folks here. Mashed potatoes and veggie sides were "known" of course, although let me tell you it is extremely difficult to find frozen corn over here (I always buy tons when I see it), normally it is canned corn only, which I think has kind of a funny taste to it.

Here we all are, towards the end of the feast (Nicholas is wearing Stephanie's bike helmet, he was having fun rooting through the playroom cupboards while the adults were distracted). Even Bella popped into the photo at the back.


We are still eating leftovers... I guess Germans just don't get the concept of second helpings. As the midday meal is the larger one here, I had told everyone to skip eating lunch, in the hopes that they would eat the expected Thanksgiving portions. That didn't work, but that's OK, we like the leftovers (good thing, too, given the amount). Thankfully (pun intended), we are at the end...