Sharing Thanksgiving

We did it - we had Thanksgiving on the day, and we both took Friday off too, so we've had a typical overfed long holiday weekend and it's been great. We invited several friends over for dinner on Thursday so they could taste the traditional turkey and trimmings and Gerald's bird was very well received - one Polish guest was fascinated that he cooked the whole bird and asked for instructions. I was able to find classic Ocean Spray canned (whole berry) cranberry sauce and Libby's pumpkin too, so the tastes were authentic. Gerald said my crab-apple sauce went great with the meat too. I harvested from trees in our yard a few months ago and cooked them whole, mashed & strained them into sauce and added a lot of sugar as it's very tart; it's bright red naturally so adds a nice touch of color to a plate. He said I 'out-Finned the Finns on that one' by foraging something right in the middle of town. Gerald also shared his sugar cream pies, and our American friend Angela did a green bean casserole, and her sweet potatoes with marshmallows dish raised not a little suspicion, as did a pie made from a pumpkin. But everyone was adventurous and very appreciative of our sharing this holiday cuisine with them. We had a house-full, and the apartment kitchen got buried in dishes, with people underfoot as we were setting the food out, just like home! I made cream of turkey soup yesterday, and have more stock for another day, and it looks like we'll have turkey and stuffing for dinner again tonight with the last spoonfuls of cranberry sauce.

We did not completely hibernate though after our big feast - we went to the big Picasso exhibit Friday - a comprehensive show from the Picasso museum in Paris, so we've had our taste of culture too. But staying awake is certainly a challenge now in this darkest time of year. We're at 6.5 hours of daylight now, but also in the midst of weeks of rain so that adds to the light deprivation quite a bit. Sunrise: 8:52am and sunset 3:24pm and we're still not used to evening beginning mid-afternoon. But today is also the first day that most Christmas decorations will be hung, so that should brighten things up. It's time for the excellent Christmas markets now too and, may I ask, where did 2009 go??