Happy Thanksgiving!

It's almost 9 pm and as we finish our first Thanksgiving outside of the homeland our friends and family are just beginning theirs.  I have to admit I was skeptical that this Thanksgiving would be even close to acceptable, I was actually expecting the day to pass as a painful reminder of how different life is now, and how much tradition and ritual we have left behind.  So it was a stretch of faith to take the boys out of school, gather the requisite ingredients of the most significant meal of the year and make plans to celebrate gratitude. But here I sit--the last stack of dishes brought to the kitchen, the kids in their PJ's because yes, they have to return to school tomorrow and re-integrate into French culture once more, and it has actually been a beautiful, sweet, and very very thank-filled day.

My day started with a very hot cup of coffee in bed, checking emails and internet messages.  Some of my friends have been without power for the past several days and I was eager to see if they had been restored in time to cook turkey or have made it through the snow and cold temps in the Pacific Northwest to travel to relative's homes for the 4 day-long weekend. Thinking of friends first and foremost in this day reminded me of the thing I am personally most thankful for; the people that have blessed me with their friendship and support, people who I have met randomly in life and given kindness...as cliche as it may sound, it has become apparent  recently that is less about what you have in your life and more about WHO you have in your life.  Being away from some of the people that I love for the past six months has taught me to value friendships and relationships that I might otherwise take for granted.

So starting the day on this note, with hot coffee (that although I can barely finish due to late 3rd trimester nausea but insist of having the mug between my two palms each morning nonetheless) and the plan to spend the day in a warm and cozy house cooking up the prized ingredients that were victoriously found on the quest for the traditional Thanksgiving day menu.....well the day was a winner before 10 am. But just to seal the deal, I decided to start the morning with the breakfast of champions for the family--crepes with Nutella and banana slices (which some view as desert...but not moi!)

And then it started to snow....well kinda.  How perfect is that? There was initially just the blackening of the sky and sudden temperature drop and then this wet, icy stuff coming down in torrents....but at quick glance it was actually a bit snow-like.  A few hours later we actually got some of the huge sticky flakes that melted when they hit the ground and finally this evening, right as the cooking was finishing, enough to make a few surfaces white.  Just enough to make a cold, grey day special.  What is it about the first snowfall of the season?

In between cooking in stages, starting backwards at the bottom of the menu with the apple tarte, I snuck in some quiet moments resting on the bed, keeping contractions at bay because I really didn't want a Thanksgiving Day baby, so I put my feet up, watched Thanksgiving specials on the internet and knitted a few more rows on the baby blanket I am trying to finish. (I am not a great knitter, but it does help pass the time).  The boys were downstairs watching a movie with Daddy and playing video games...and I have to say with food cooking away in the oven, a fire in the fireplace, 'snow' falling outside...all was peaceful in my world and it was very easy to be thankful.

I'm glad that we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It would have been easy to write off the day and just proceed normally, we have plenty of excuses and we have plenty of French holidays and observances to fill in the gaps on our calendars...finding the traditional food items was challenging; sweet potatoes are not common, there is no canned pumpkin, or cranberry sauce or whole turkeys at the markets here--without extreme effort, special arrangement and expense.  But at the end of this day the menu exceeded expectations; a boneless turkey 'loin' roast perfect for four people, roasted sweet potatoes and an odd looking squash that is grown on the farm just down the hill from us (for which we paid cher 10 euros for!) brussel sprouts roasted with bacon, a baguette, a big platter of cheese and finally an American style apple tarte made with Normandy apples...all done by the 8+ month pregnant girl in a tiny kitchen....in a foreign country......do I get extra credit points for that?

It was all worth it, every effort and detail --- I know that we will always remember this Thanksgiving (and to be honest I am foggy on the recent ones before this year) because of the intention to bring to our new life, the importance of gratitude whether it is for things past or things yet to come.

Happy Thanksgiving cher amis!