Friday, November 23, 2012

Thanksgiving Day

 It was a success! Everyone loved the food, as foreign as some of it was to our Polish family, they deemed it delicious and even offered to make a few of the dishes themselves for next year's gathering, with the aid of a recipe or two. 


 I didn't make my own cranberry sauce because we couldn't find frozen cranberries anywhere in the store. Martin ground our cloves by hand. If you need a meat thermometer go to IKEA first to get one, don't bother looking anywhere else. If you need a whole turkey go straight to Stary Kleparz. They will have one waiting for you and will offer a "Happy Thanksgiving" on your way out. A reminder that you are not the only American in Krakow attempting to recreate the most important of holiday feasts. It made me feel a little less lonely for home knowing that.

 Everything  from the pie crust to the gravy, was made by me, with my own two hands and with a lot of help from my good friend, butter. And of course, Martin, who was sent out on on wild goose chase after another in search of the final lingering ingredients.


Thank you for all of the comments on my last post and personal emails giving advice and offering luck for our first Thanksgiving here in Poland. It gave me a much needed boost of confidence and a bit of motivation to make it all work out.  And it did!



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3 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, so happy for you! Isn't it funny how the right food can make everything feel normal again? I'm super impressed :)

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    1. Thanks, Dwija! Yes, it helped. It was really nice to know that even though it was a lot of extra effort we could recreate the same foods and actually celebrate!

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  2. Hi Olivia, I just noticed your question about vanilla on my blog. Sorry for the late response. Lately, my Piotr i Paweł has had vanilla extract. I've also found it in the food section at Mark's & Spenser's. Or, you can make your own with vodka (readily available here) and vanilla beans, I've read about the process on the Internet. I've also used the Polish flavorings in the little tiny bottles (it's clear), and it's worked OK in my recipes. Good luck!

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