A Danish Expat Thanksgiving

The Danes may do the Fourth of July, and they've even imported Black Friday, but Thanksgiving has yet to cross the pond. And so I was pleased to induct a large group of newbies into my favorite American holiday this weekend. This year's grand challenge was the turkey, a responsibility I'd managed to hand off every year since I'd begun finding the bird in Paris. There was simply no more dodging the bullet. Luckily, my househusband*'s master culinary skills (I think the French are just born with it), finely honed over the past few months, came to the rescue. Wrapped in aluminum and stuffed with herbs and lemon for flavoring, our turkey came out surprisingly moist and flavorful. (*Nicolas is at home now while in professional transition and I'm affectionately calling him my househusband. You haven't missed out on any surprise wedding.)

A Thanksgiving turkey success thanks to Nicolas

Allrecipes.com was our best friend this weekend. Besides the turkey, we tested out a collection of recipes: gravy with a hint of tomato paste, buttermilk cornbread (with wholewheat flour), a "Thanksgiving turkey" bourbon citrus cocktail, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie cheesecake, and a traditional American hot buttered rum. Coupled with our friends' salads, curry, cheesy bread snacks, mashed potatoes, brownies, and sugar pie, we had ourselves a proper feast.

Our Thanksgiving feast

Our guests hailed from places as diverse as Germany, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Canada, Honduras, the Faroe Islands, and (if you want to count country of origin) even Bosnia and Iraq. By comparison, Nicolas was a seasoned veteran clocking in his second Thanksgiving. In all, it was a real melting pot of a Thanksgiving which, in a sense, couldn't have been more American, in spite of the total lack of American guests. It didn't take much arm-twisting to convince our foreign friends that the Americans have a few good ideas when it comes to this celebration.

The Thanksgiving bouquet brightened up our windowsill to bring some extra holiday cheer.

All in all, it was a wonderful Turkey Day.