Our little ward in Écully has a few American expats and
missionaries including us, so the ward council decided to have a Thanksgiving
dinner and party. Of course it was
up to us to show them what the traditional menu is like, so we went to work.
Finding the right ingredients for a dinner like this proved
to be quite a challenge to say the least.
First of all, the only whole turkeys we could find came complete with
the gobble! No problem with
freshness, but we didn't want to go down that road. So after a little searching we were able to find some turkey
breasts. We could also find whole pumpkins, but pumpkin-pie filling just doesn't exist here. And the thought of boiling down
pumpkins sounded about as fun as plucking feathers! And stuffing mix or cranberry sauce? Forget about it!
We finally did hear about "My American Market", an
online store out of England. About
a week later our package with boxes of Kraft stove-top stuffing mix, cans of
Libby's Pumpkin and Ocean Spray cranberry sauce arrived. We put on a pretty authentic American Thanksgiving and the ward really loved it! Some of the primary children even dressed up and performed as American Indians; not very politically correct at home but really cute and funny! At first everyone was a bit skeptical
of pumpkin pie and especially of the stuffing. But Chris had doctored the stove-top with lots of fresh marché
mushrooms, celery and onions and at the end of the evening the hugh bowl of
stuffing and all the pumpkin pies were gone. And Chris' traditional American rolls disappeared in a flash
which is quite a compliment in a place that has the caliber of bread that
France has. We even got a few
requests for recipes!
It was a little strange to be away from home and family at this time of year when families gather together. So this year we were especially thankful for things like "FaceTime" and "Skype"that gave us the opportunity to see and talk to all our kids and grandkids. And in spite of being far from them, we are also very thankful to be in this place at this special time, and to be with wonderful people here who are becoming like family to us.
Goods shipped in from "My American Market"
Thanksgiving in Écully Ward
Lots of food.
A young married couple who will be attending BYU-Idaho when we get home.
We are learning that you never turn your back on our bishop's wife!
Of course you guys had to make Thanksgiving Dinner for the entire ward! That's cool that you were actually able to get Stove-Top. Haha. WHo knew that in a place like France with amazing food, they could actually like that?
ReplyDeleteWe miss you guys tons, too. THe kids keep saying, It was so weird without Nanny and Pappy at Thanksgiving. Just last night Claire and Christian were saying how much they miss you! WE love you guys!