Thanksgiving

First, I would like to say, HOW WAS IT THANKSGIVING TWO WEEKS AGO?!! (ie. Where has the time gone?)

Second, since I didn't get to celebrate Thanksgiving at home with the fam, with a lot of help I organized a (massive) Thanskgiving dinner involving:

• 9 Brits (1 Scotsman, 1 British-Ukranian, 1 British-American);
• 8 Français-es;
• 3 Canadians;
• 1 American;
• 1 Russian; and
• 1 Hungarian

For 83% of this group, it was their first Thanksgiving ever. And I have to say, it was a hit. It also goes down in history as my most multicultural Thanksgiving, which really captures the North American spirit, in a way.

As my contribution to this potluck, I made Dad's honey and butter carrots and my Grandma Lofthouse's famous Pumpkin Pie. I had to improvise for the pie as with most recipes here, with a lot of help from the expat store "Little Britian" and with a microwave/oven thing, but it turned out perfect, if I dare say so myself (and I do).

After my morning class, I ran some errands and then spent the day cleaning the apartment with Morgane and peeling carrots. We had to borrow a broom from Milica (the head of our broom didn't fit with the handle) and we stealthily stole a table from A building. People brought chairs and then around 7:30pm people started to arrive. We didn't manage to start eating until around 8:30pm. It was classic Thanksgiving.

Other dishes brought by the amazing participants included: chicken (turkey was WAY too hard to find), stuffed squash crumble, brussel sprouts, puréed turnip, sweet potatoe casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans with a white gravy, deviled eggs, apple crumble, meringue, fruit salad, gravy, and much more.

Morgane made an adorable post-it note heart for people to write in what they were thankful for and a sign for the door. I wrote a mini-"grace" for the start of the meal which was really cheesy, but there's no time like Thanksgiving to get really cheesy. It translated roughly to this:

"We appreciate the good fortune that brought us different ways and from different places here to Lyon. We also appreciate the opportunity that we've had to have met such good friends (or to meet them here tonight). Finally, we appreciate our health, our happiness and the delicious food that will soon be getting cold. Bon appetit!"

I can't actually put into words how delicious everything was. I think I must have befriended the best cooks in and around ENS. When I finally sat down to eat, I couldn't stop myself from sighing happily with every bite.

Incidently, this also served as Jamie and my 20th and 22nd birthday parties, respectively. And everyone was so sweet that we had two surprise cakes as well as presents (and the great company made it that much more special).

Sometime just before midnight, we collectively took part in another Thanksgiving tradition: everyone was so full that they all felt the need to go home and sleep. At my family Thanksgivings, it is not uncommon for us to sprawl out between the main course and dessert, but there wasn't much room for that here. We danced a bit after the tables had been returned to their homes and everyone was so helpful cleaning up and taking their dishes back with them.

I don't think I could have asked for a better Thanksgiving in Lyon. The only thing I missed was, of course, my family.

(Photo credit to Danielle Ambs and Milica Antic!)