Hamburger Thanksgiving!

So, I know some of you have been waiting patiently, and others of you have just been waiting... ;) for a post about our Thanksgiving celebration here with friends.  Well, take a deep breath because this is it!

Willkommen!

We had a wonderful time!  The comments ranged from expressed desires to wed the chef to true American Thanksgiving spirit.  Marco said: "I'm so full, and I have to dance tomorrow, I think I'd better stop eating," but two minutes later he said: "I changed my mind, I think I'll have some more."  Fun was had by all!  Sidonie took lots of pictures of the festivities as I finished last minute food preparations.  

In addition to all the food we made, Sidonie made some very cute Thanksgiving decorations for the flat.  

Our Thanksgiving entrance way!

Sidonie's Horn of Plenty (per Marco's request) adorned the foyer!

Sidonie's rendering of Gus prior to his visit to the tanning studio!

The dessert table with centerpiece (prior to the arrival of dessert!)

Our bar was FULL of food, and our coffee table was completely covered with desserts!  I think we'll be eating Thanksgiving leftovers for at least half the week!  Whoohoo!

Gus after his tanning bed experience!

Me getting the Deviled Eggs out and onto the tray. (Sadly, I just realized that because Sid was taking the pics, there are none of her :(  Well, I'll put one of her new hair at the end of the blog to make up for it!)

The Spread - notice how I'm in the photo three times? - I guess Sid's in a Thanksgiving photo too, but she did not wear the same attire for these festivities!

More of the Spread.

The dessert table prior to the arrival/removal from the oven of some of the desserts!

For those particularly interested in details (as I would be were I the one reading the blog and not merely the one writing it...) I'll give you the menu.  If you're more like my brother and are just looking for the overview, feel free to skip to the pictures below!  Because most of the grocery stores around our flat are really more like corner markets (as are most grocery stores here) I had a bit of difficulty finding some of the ingredients for some dishes!  I also found that many of the things I would normally have used to prepare certain dishes (like the scoop for the Almond Mounds) were in the US!  Let's just say that some of the recipes were a bit of a variation on the original theme!  I found cranberries at Edeka, "the expensive grocery store," here in Glinde, it's the most like an American grocery store of any I've seen.  I also had to buy the closest thing Edeka had to "stuffing mix" - no Pepperidge Farms here!  (The dressing turned out very good, however.  in fact, Marco said it was his favorite!)  There were also some things that we simply could not find :( like plantains or corn on the cob, for instance, so they had to be cut from the menu.

The Menu for Sunday was as follows:

Turkey (Gus, as we named him, and yes, Laura, we made a real turkey - no tofurkey was to be found! ;)

Cornbread Dressing

Mashed Potatoes (potatoes are a German staple food)

Gravy (giblet-free!  A new concept for the Germans, they called it "sauce for the meat.")

Garlic Green Beans

Brussels Sprouts

Salad (with tomatoes, three kinds of olives, avocado, and freshly made croutons)

Deviled Eggs (These were real eggs too - vegan eggs don't work very well for this recipe!)

Mint Tea (Sweetened with honey - Mmmm!)

Crescent Rolls (These were incredibly difficult to find, but I did finally find some at Edeka.)

Sweet Potatoes with Coconut sauce (This time it really was sauce!)

Cranberry Relish (Everyone wanted that recipe, but they have no idea how hard it was to find all the ingredients!)

And last, but not least,

Almond Mounds (Which were stored in the freezer because we ran out of space in the closet fridge - those of you with the recipe should try it.  Just take them out a couple minutes before you want to eat them so you don't break your teeth!)

and Apple Dumplings!

Stefan and Gus (Before we found a turkey - also difficult to locate - we were talking about making a hen.  Stefan was very sad at the prospect of not having a turkey and said to Sidonie with this best puppy dog face: Turkey, bitte, bitte!)

Hungry Germans voted not to wait for those folks a bit on the tardy side!

Cutting the turkey!

Morten too overwhelmed for words!

Marco in shock!

Stefan in eager anticipation!

Most of Sidonie's class (l-r: Ben, Nina, Marco, Lara, Morten, Stefan.)  Some of her class couldn't make it because they were ill.

The whole gathering (minus Sid who was taking the picture! Those you haven't met yet are Evelyn, Marc and me, of course!)

The great thing was that not only were we able to share some great American food and a wonderful American traditional holiday with our new international friends, but we were also able to pray together over the food and to go around the circle of those present and voice our thanksgivings for what God brought to us this year!  Sidonie and I were not reserved at all about expressing our true thanksgivings, which, of course, involved our deep thankfulness for all God has done in and for us to bring us to the place where we are now.  We also thank Him for bringing us here with a specific purpose and that He will fulfill that purpose through us!

Bonus Features - it's like a DVD only better!

Sidonie's new hair!  We did it ourselves - the first time I've permed anyone's hair, and it came out pretty good!

Another shot of Sid's new hair - this is from when our friends who just got married (the Afgani couple from the wedding pictures) took us out for lunch - loads of fun!

Belated Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night!