adventures of an american housewife in the south of france

A Thanksgiving-Birthday Weekend

Hello all!  I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving full of lots of good food and friends.  We had a nice, quiet celebration over here for our first "official" holiday in France (Easter just doesn't really seem to count!)  We definitely realized that Thanksgiving is a lot more fun and exciting when you get to spend it with all your family and friends, but we still managed to have a great day.  We even had our American friend over late night for Round 2 when he was finished with work.  It was not a day of epic proportions like Thanksgiving past, but the day ended with full bellies and a Packer victory, so I'd call it a success!

our little makeshift Thanksgiving dinner table for 3

We started off our Thanksgiving morning with Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (finally used up those bananas in my freezer!), mini quiches, coffee and mimosas.

oh this banana bread was so good! i followed a basic recipe but used 4 bananas and added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp of vanilla and about 3/4 c. of chocolate chips :)

nom, nom

The mini-quiches were a surprise hit and were a great choice for a breakfast that you can start making the day before.  I roughly followed this recipe, but used shallots, ham, red peppers, and basil instead of their suggested fillings. I couldn't find any fresh cranberries (wah!) but we still had a fully traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings.  We cooked a giant turkey breast in the Dutch oven, which we were a little skeptical about, but it turned out great!  We just seared the meat, sauteed up some onions, carrots and celery, added some white wine, bouillion, and dried aromatic herbs, and let it cook for several hours.  I was able to use the juices to make a quick gravy, which turned out much better than I expected.

our delicious meal - turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and brussel sprouts

For dessert, I surprised Michael with an Apple Pie which served as Thanksgiving dessert and his customary birthday Apple Pie.  It looked pretty, but wasn't my finest work.  I used a pre-made dough because I just really hate making my own dough, but I think it's time to bite the bullet and go hard or go home.  Next time, I'll be making the dough myself.

HBD Hub!

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and celebrating Hub's 34th Birthday! On Saturday we went into the town center where they had set up for the Fêtes des Vignes - a winter wine festival!  Sort of like Estivales, this festival was 3-days long and had about 50 different wineries present for tasting.  For €2, you got 3 tastings and a glass - pretty great deal!  We hung out here for a bit and then headed home for some delicious Thanksgiving leftovers.

you know we love a wine festival

center of the festival

enjoying some vin

gorgeous sunset

On Sunday (birthday day!) we went for a long walk in the park, had some drinks outside in the sun with friends, and finished off the night with a delicious sushi dinner.

Parc Rimbaud

cute birthday boy

Pretty good for our first American holiday in France!

happy thanksgiving!

4 Responses to “A Thanksgiving-Birthday Weekend”

  1. Julia says:

    LOVE LOVE LOVE all of this!! miss you!

  2. Greer says:

    Great post Nat! I am drooling over the chocolate chip banana bread! I must get the recipe from you! love you!

    • Natalie says:

      Make it immediately – it was so good! Just follow any basic banana bread recipe, but make sure to use 4 bananas, and add 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, and as many chocolate chips as you want :)

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