Happy Thanksgiving Day from France

Although Thanksgiving is not a holiday in France and I had steady fire-hose stream of European Union history (and unfortunatey not football) on Thursday and Friday (en français, bien entendu) we were able to share this fun and filling tradition with our good friends and neighbors Julie et François-Xavier. They are true Alsatians and thus culinary experts so the pressure was on for Whit. Here you can see her in preparation mode.......the kitchen was full of delicious smelling dishes that I wasn't allowed to touch.



To distract me from tearing into the food before our guests arrived, Whit gave me the important job of carving....... Lucky for me, she prepared a breast instead of an entire turkey, making my job pretty easy.



Needless to say Whitney really stepped up to the plate and, I can say it because I am safely across the pond; she prepared the best Thanksgiving meal I have ever seen or eaten!!! (sorry to our Mothers and Grandmothers, but you taught her well). Maybe it's just one of those great things about southern women.
Whit prepped the table in first class style and gave me a thorough briefing on the need to be as careful as possible with the glasses and how maybe it would be better if I didn't lift anything higher than 3 inches from the table to avoid the inevitable...


Luckily, the evening was crash-free and we even took the time to say what we were thankful for......



The first class meal included turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green beans, cranberry casserole, and pumpkin bread with ice cream for dessert. Julie and François loved each dish, and were really excited to hear that it is tradition to take a "to go plate." Here they are happily preparing their lunch for the next day.


Lucky for us, they have decided to return the favor, inviting us to a traditional french Christmas meal.

This weekend, Strasbourg's famous Christmas markets have started, so expect some pics of this winter wonderland soon.....