Fifth Consecutive Thanksgiving Outside of the U.S.A.

This week, I'm in the midst of lots of planning, shopping, and cooking for my fifth consecutive Thanksgiving outside of the U.S.A.  It's become an annual routine of making the decision whether or not it's worth trying to attempt to cook a turkey and all of the trimmings.  If the answer ends up being yes, then the challenge begins: trying to track down as many "traditional Thanksgiving" ingredients (or reasonable substitutes) as possible.  Had I been living in the U.S. all this time, I never would have figured out that so much of what we eat for the holiday is specific to America.  I guess that makes sense, considering it's our holiday, but it sure doesn't make cooking a full Thanksgiving meal abroad very easy.

Take cranberries, for example.  There's definitely no "Ocean Spray" equivalent in Europe.  From what I can tell, there are few or maybe no cranberry bogs outside of North America (the U.S. & Canada are by far the leading producers and consumers of these berries.)  Through careful research (and help from my brother, who lived in Germany for five years), I was able to track down a very similar berry, the Wild Lingonberry, which is eaten throughout Europe with game meat.  It turns out that Lingonberries are seldom cultivated, but rather almost always collected in the wild.

As for the other staples of a Thanksgiving Day feast, many of them fall into the same category: hard to find overseas.  Sweet potatoes were originally native to the tropical areas of South America and started spreading north to parts of the southern U.S.  Although sweet potatoes and yams are now cultivated in a lot of different climates, it seems that they don't grow well in Europe.  In Germany, you can buy them imported from the U.S.  In Romania, when they are available, you can buy them imported from Israel.  The remainder of the ingredients can be found or substituted, though the short-cuts aren't available here: pumpkins don't come canned; there's no such thing as "pumpkin pie spice"; no Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup; no Durkee onions; no Stove Top Stuffing; no Cool Whip.      

Turkeys, which are practically given away for free in U.S. supermarkets this time of year, are also difficult to track down overseas.  It wasn't even an option back in 2006 when I was living in Rwanda; we cooked a pork tenderloin instead.  In Southern France, in 2009, we could have bought a turkey (or part of a turkey) if we had requested it ahead of time.  The French, like the Romanians, tend to raise turkeys for Christmas, so they're not generally ready in November.  Since I had no luck finding a turkey in the day or two leading up to Thanksgiving last year, Rob & I settled for a home-cooked seafood feast and lots of Bordeaux wine-- not a bad alternative, but definitely not Thanksgiving.

Here in Romania, you can buy whole, frozen turkeys (imported from Greece or Poland) in the major supermarkets.  In Medias, Romania in 2007, I purchased one of these 12-pound Greek turkeys and it turned out fine, but when I checked the dates stamped on turkeys around Cluj, I found that most of the turkeys available for purchase have been in the freezer since December 2009 (presumably for last year's Christmas.)  In 2008, also in Medias, we opted to cook two fresh turkey breasts instead of a whole frozen turkey.

Over the last week or so, I've been contemplating whether I want to fight the uphill battle to cook a Thanksgiving dinner.  I gained courage from a few close American and Romanian friends, who are willing to share in the cooking responsibility, and so, it's a GO, and Thanksgiving 2010 is shaping up to be the best Thanksgiving Outside of the U.S.A. yet, compete with (drum roll please...) a fresh turkey, picked out three days ago from a farmer on the outskirts of Cluj, who typically raises a couple of animals for his family's Christmas celebrations.  He even offered to slaughter and pluck the bird for me for an extra $7- the deal of the century, if you ask me!  As it turns out, Romanians never cook turkeys whole, so I'm sure this year's butchering process will be a new experience for this particular farmer.  It's a story for him, too, as he happily contributes to an American's holiday needs.    

It'll be an adventure; I'm hosting, and in charge of the turkey and a few of the sides and desserts for 8 adults and 2 kids.  As of two days before the big dinner, after countless trips to multiple stores and markets around town, I've found everything I need except: 1.) a meat thermometer (how irritating: turns out Romanian farmers don't add the little pop-up turkey timers when they butcher a bird) and 2.) cloves.  Pretty good, all in all (though the lack of a meat thermometer is really nagging at me; how did the Pilgrims know when it was done?-- ahh!)  Pictures and updates to come, but for now, here's the menu (and now I'd really better start cooking):

**UPDATE: Wed. noon-- I found cloves, but they were whole.  Tried a few settings/adapters on the food processor, and was able to grind them somewhat successfully.  The pumpkin pie is in the over (guests beware of crunchy bits of cloves as you enjoy your dessert.)**

****UPDATE #2: Wed. 6 p.m.-- I finally have in my possession a meat thermometer, so I'll sleep well tonight.  We borrowed it from friends who own a local restaurant.  We picked up the turkey from the farmer this afternoon- a 20 pounder that (most importantly) fits in my refrigerator for tonight and the oven for tomorrow.  I think we're good to go!**** 

******UPDATE #3: Wed. 9 p.m.-- One additional adult added to the guest list.  Good thing there's gonna be a lot of food.******

Veggies & Dip
Fresh, Romanian TURKEY
Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Pralined Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Roasted Vegetables
Macaroni & Cheese
Homemade Apple Sauce
Corn
Bread

Pumpkin Pie
Sweet Potato Pie
German Apple Cake

Hot Mulled Wine
Terri's Special Autumn Tea