A Thanksgiving Guide In France

It's Thanksgiving Week!  It's Thanksgiving Week!  Hooray!  As you probably know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.   To me, it really marks the beginning of the holiday season and I love everything about it:  the food, the festivities, and the thanks.  Usually, we celebrate an Orphan's Thanksgiving in San Francisco with 25 or so of our closest friends, but this year we'll be doing things a little bit differently... ok, a lot differently.  We won't be with all our friends, we won't be having my very favorite kind of turkey, and we'll be some of the very few people in the country actually celebrating.  Which has its plus sides.  I mean, I can basically go to the grocery store to shop for dinner whenever I want without worrying about things like turkeys, onions and potatoes being sold out. So here's our plan for the big day!  First of all, Michael is taking the day off, which makes me very happy.  Since most people will be working and the Packer game starts at 6pm our time, it's just going to be the two for us a Thanksgiving dinner, scheduled for around 3 or 4:00.  I'll be making these for breakfast the night before, and then we'll save the rest of the room in our stomach for the big meal.  We're going to keep it simple and traditional.  Our menu will be: Turkey:  One glitch is that the grocery stores around here do not sell whole turkeys.  They sell other kinds of whole birds like chickens and ducks, and I suppose I could speak to a butcher and special order a turkey, but since it's the just the two of us, we decided a few weeks ago we don't need a whole bird anyway.  Most of the stores have turkey roasts so we're going to slow cook one in the Dutch Oven with carrots and onions and broth.  That way the turkey meat will be nice and juicy and our oven will be free for other things, like... A Stuffing for the Rest of our Lives:  Remember this from last year?  We were pretty obsessed with this stuffing.  I'll be making a whole boatload of this, even if it is just the two of us. Mashed Potatoes:  Obviously! Hub makes some mean mashed potatoes, so he's in charge of those. Gravy:  Hmm, no turkey stock, pre-made broth, or pan drippings, but I'm going to attempt to make a gravy anyway, using this method.  Wish me luck! Cranberry Sauce:  Unfortunately, this is a maybe.  I'm really hoping I'll be able to find some fresh cranberries around here, because I just love homemade Spiced Cranberry Sauce!  I saw a carton of them the other day in the store, but they were "shipped from the USA" and looked a little beat up.  None of the markets I've been to have fresh cranberries, but I'm holding out hope! Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Shallots & Pecans:  Again, provided I can find some good looking sprouts.  Sometimes they're not in the best shape around here, in which case I'll make some green beans instead. Croissants:  from the bakery.  Because we need a little bit of French in our Thanksgiving. Dessert:  Well, pumpkin-based desserts are out, because you can't buy canned pumpkin here.  I really don't feel like roasting my own to make a pie when I know we'll only have two or three pieces, so I have a few other tricks up my sleeve.  You'll just have to wait and see! We'll obviously be drinking lots of wine.  Check out my Turkey Day Wine Guide from last year if you're unsure about what kind of wine goes with a Thanksgiving feast.  And if you're in the mood for something different, how good does this look?? So what will you be cooking up for Turkey Day?  If you need some other ideas of what to bring to a Pot Luck Thanksgiving, check out these additional recipes.  They're some of my favorites!

A Cheese Ball with a Secret

 

Sweet & Spicy Glazed Nuts

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Kuri Pumpkin & Coconut Soup

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Cardamom Apple Upside Down Cake

Rustic Apple Tart

Enjoy your Holiday!  

*first image source 

3 Responses to “A Thanksgiving Guide In France”

1. Tina @ My Life as a Mrs says:

   November 21, 2011 at 6:04 pm

   thanks for the shout-out ;) Happy Thanksgiving! PS- check out the first sentence in my blog post today haha Great minds think alike!

   Reply
   • Natalie says:

     November 21, 2011 at 6:13 pm

     Haha! Sounds like we’re both a little giddy this week :) I have been drooling over your Sangria for days now – I can’t wait to make it! Hope you have a lovely holiday!

     Reply
2. nate says:

   November 22, 2011 at 9:45 pm

   Thanksgiving is also my favorite!!! Drooling over your pics…

   Reply