Thanksgiving snuck up on me this year faster than ever.
One minute it was summer, then Halloween, and all of a sudden Thanksgiving was on us. Did you know that November 22 is the earliest that Thanksgiving can be? Well, that's when it was in 2012. I figured that one out all by myself, using math. For all you non-Americans, Thanksgiving is always the 4th Thursday of November, so when November 1 is a Thursday, Thanksgiving is on the 22nd...and that's the earliest it could ever be. EVER!!!! (said in a dramatic voice). So here's a 5th grade test question: What's the latest date that Thanksgiving could ever be?
As you know, I love Thanksgiving. But I actually stress out about it a lot in Poland, because it's so difficult to find a turkey here. Unless you know where to look. Which I don't. 2 years ago I got lucky and stumbled upon one buried at the bottom of a freezer in the 7th shop I checked. Last year Kamila found the turkey for me but kept the location a secret and threw away the key (I think she forgot). This year, I was back to square one because the first two options didn't work. Naturally I checked all the usual suspects for turkeys, but nowhere that I had been before had any. I thought I figured it out when I checked the website www.befsztyk.pl and they said they had turkeys. I called the English hotline (that's what they called it), and tried to order one. The problem was that they had fresh turkeys only, and they were arriving on Wednesday, just in time to cook them on Thanksgiving day. So this was perfect! For celebrating on Thursday. Not on Thanksgiving Sunday, like we were.
I searched online for how long you can keep a fresh turkey in the fridge before it spoils, and most sites recommended 2-3 days max. Here's some more math for you: Fresh turkey Wednesday + 3 days = Bad turkey Saturday = Sick people on Thanksgiving Sunday. So that wasn't an option. I tried to make room in my freezer to store a turkey, but the shelf in the middle of the freezer is frozen stuck and couldn't be removed in time. I asked the guy at the shop if he could just put the turkey in the freezer for me, but he said "sorry, they are fresh turkeys". "So can you freeze it for me?". "No, they're fresh". I don't know if that meant he has no freezer to put them in, or if he was telling me that they're not frozen, so stop asking about frozen ones. So I gave up and the search continued.
I get so nostalgic about Thanksgiving that I read through my posts from the last 2 years. Feel free to take a look and see how my apartment gets smaller every year: 2010 and 2011.
One minute it was summer, then Halloween, and all of a sudden Thanksgiving was on us. Did you know that November 22 is the earliest that Thanksgiving can be? Well, that's when it was in 2012. I figured that one out all by myself, using math. For all you non-Americans, Thanksgiving is always the 4th Thursday of November, so when November 1 is a Thursday, Thanksgiving is on the 22nd...and that's the earliest it could ever be. EVER!!!! (said in a dramatic voice). So here's a 5th grade test question: What's the latest date that Thanksgiving could ever be?
As you know, I love Thanksgiving. But I actually stress out about it a lot in Poland, because it's so difficult to find a turkey here. Unless you know where to look. Which I don't. 2 years ago I got lucky and stumbled upon one buried at the bottom of a freezer in the 7th shop I checked. Last year Kamila found the turkey for me but kept the location a secret and threw away the key (I think she forgot). This year, I was back to square one because the first two options didn't work. Naturally I checked all the usual suspects for turkeys, but nowhere that I had been before had any. I thought I figured it out when I checked the website www.befsztyk.pl and they said they had turkeys. I called the English hotline (that's what they called it), and tried to order one. The problem was that they had fresh turkeys only, and they were arriving on Wednesday, just in time to cook them on Thanksgiving day. So this was perfect! For celebrating on Thursday. Not on Thanksgiving Sunday, like we were.
I searched online for how long you can keep a fresh turkey in the fridge before it spoils, and most sites recommended 2-3 days max. Here's some more math for you: Fresh turkey Wednesday + 3 days = Bad turkey Saturday = Sick people on Thanksgiving Sunday. So that wasn't an option. I tried to make room in my freezer to store a turkey, but the shelf in the middle of the freezer is frozen stuck and couldn't be removed in time. I asked the guy at the shop if he could just put the turkey in the freezer for me, but he said "sorry, they are fresh turkeys". "So can you freeze it for me?". "No, they're fresh". I don't know if that meant he has no freezer to put them in, or if he was telling me that they're not frozen, so stop asking about frozen ones. So I gave up and the search continued.
Luckily one evening Igors texted me saying that he saw a huge flock of
frozen turkeys at the Tesco by his apartment. I went out there to look
for them, but when I got there, I searched high and low and didn't see
any turkeys! In my head I wondered "Does Igors even know what a turkey
is?". It turns out there are 2 Tescos next to each other and I was in
the wrong one. I went to the one down the street and found it....the
ark of the covenant, the fountain of youth, the...freezer of turkeys.
It was beautiful.
I thought I'd never find you!
Mmmmmmm, turkeeyyyyyyy
In the end, there were 19 of us for dinner, plus a baby and a dog. It
was like a real family dinner! Ken brought his mom, who was visiting
from Brooklyn (she lives just a few blocks from where I used to live in
Park Slope), Lizzy came just a couple hours after flying back from her
Thanksgiving in the US, Alan came after a very not low key 2 day
bachelor party in Krakow, Julia from a business trip to Kazakhstan, and
Juan from his apartment 5 minutes down the road. So I guess everyone
really wanted to be there. It was simply great.
Lasagna made by an Italian should be part of every Thanksgiving meal
Dinner tables are overrated
Cyprian loves Thanksgiving!
While we were eating, Ken made a presentation about the history of
Thanksgiving and had everyone read a page out loud. It was like story
time, with everyone listening intently, then the story getting passed
around to someone to read the next page with a different accent:
Russian, Latvian, Scottish, English, Romanian, Italian, Polish,
American, Brooklyn, Australian, and Ecuadorian/British.
Story time with Lizzy - whatever she's saying must be really interesting
I wanted to go around the room and have people say what they were
thankful for this year, but when I finally put the last dish on the
table (the carved turkey), it was like a pack of wild hyenas surrounding
a buffalo carcass. It was not a pretty sight, and I didn't want to
mess with people's hunger, or I'd risk my hands getting eaten off. I
think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed their food (twice or three
times). We thought about waiting for Alan (the last to arrive) to
finish his dinner before going for dessert, but he ate for at least 2
hours, so we wouldn't have survived. And Basia was walking around with
an empty plate for her pie for 20 minutes, trying to give me the hint.
I had to convince them to let me take this picture before they tore the food up
As usual, I brined the turkey overnight and made stuffing, gravy,
cranberries, and pumpkin pie. But the meal was not complete without the
contributions from everyone else. We had various salads, vegetables,
sweet and french potatoes, chicken, and some very traditional
Thanksgiving items like quiche, lasagna, and pierogi (all awesome!).
(As a side note, did you know that seafood was actually part of the
original Thanksgiving dinners? If you don't believe me, just ask
WiKENpedia). We washed down our meals with pumpkin martinis, and a lot
of wine. And Ewa made a pecan pie even though she has never made or
eaten one in her life, and it was really good!
Pecan and Pumpkin pie - Ken also made a pumpkin pie but it looked much better than mine, so I will not show it to you
The night was full of good food, lots of laughs, funny stories, dogs and
babies, and was generally a wonderful evening. Just like I said last
year, this could be my last Thanksgiving in Poland, and it was a great
one to end on, if that is indeed true. But it's also sad to think about
at the same time, because dinners like this should come more often.
Even Abby the dog wanted to pass out after a big meal!
I get so nostalgic about Thanksgiving that I read through my posts from the last 2 years. Feel free to take a look and see how my apartment gets smaller every year: 2010 and 2011.
