Milestones

Happy December everyone!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgivings in America. German Thanksgiving, spent with my "Fulbright Family" was a huge success, and I'd love to tell you all about it, but I feel like we all might be experiencing a post Thanksgiving food coma. Or is that just me?

Instead I'd like to talk about life milestones, which is really just a way to talk about Thanksgiving without really talking about it if we're going to be honest here. But really, of all the cool things I've done this year and of all the culturally significant experiences I've had, Thanksgiving was the most profoundly moving experience to date.

I used to fear that I would never be able to cook a turkey. Next to my irrational fear of fish and fire (if you don't believe me ask anyone who has ever accompanied me in an open body of water or seen me try and light a candle) this was one of the bigger fears in my life.

I'd sit in the kitchen on Thanksgiving admiring the smells and warmth, thankful for any little job that my mom would give me, and wonder to myself, "how does one learn how to do that?" I could not imagine ever having thanksgiving without my parents, and therefore feared that I would never NEED to cook a turkey on my own, and would therefore never learn how to do it.

When I'd bring this up to my Mom, or when I'd mention my fears that I'd never learn how to cook or be a mom, she'd always tell me "You'll figure it out, and for better or worse, you'll probably end up doing what I do".  Don't we all get a little bit more like our Mother's everyday?

The answer never seemed sufficient, and on top of that I still wondered about when I would be old enough to have Thanksgiving on my own. Are we ever old enough? Will I ever have my OWN thanksgiving and simply invite my parents? What about Christmas? I always saw people in the movies celebrating Christmas alone or with one other person. When do we become old enough to do that?

I guess I answered a few of these questions this thanksgiving as I celebrated with good friends and great food in Cologne Germany. And much to my surprise, I cooked EVERYTHING--stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and a TURKEY and gravy--just as my mother said I would: just like her.

I sat in the kitchen, admiring the warmth and the smells, and I couldn't help but think: wow. Life just happened. What joy!

I'd like to make some sarcastic quip about how I've become my mother, but I'm proud to have absorbed and inherited some of her strengths, and apparently her cooking skills, and I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving.

So without further ado: The turkey...and the stuffing... and the friends... and for a bit of humor you can watch my vegetarian friend marie bravely and boldly clean the turkey. Stay tuned for more adventures abroad....

Turkey was 13ish pounds. Ceramic was...heavy. 

Marie gets major credit for the cranberry sauce. It was delic. 

Loving the process.

For these Mashed Potatoes I give full credit to my Nana

And thank you Ina Garten for the butter recipe

Proud and joyful.

The Spread.

The celebration.

And with that I wish you all a Happy December. 

Love always,

Mere