A Paris Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is only an American holiday and incase you forgot, I am in Paris. I have been tasked with cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for my host family and their family friends.
The Menu:
Sweet and Sour Green Beans
Cranberries
Sweet Potato Casserole
Turkey
Gravy
Grandma Jewett's Football Fudge
Step 1: Shopping
Surprise shopping for traditionally American dishes in a country that isn't America is not actually that easy. I went to five stores to find everything. Mostly because I couldn't find cranberries or water chestnuts. Every time I asked about water chestnuts (in French) I was directed to real whole chestnuts either frozen or in a jar with water - which is not the same thing as what I needed. Eventually I found everything, even marshmallows.
Step 2: Cook
I decided to split my cooking through the week since it was all falling on me to cook the meal.
Tuesday:
Tonight I cook the cranberries, simple right? Well not so when using my teeny tiny pot in my chambre de bonne. I had to go back to sixth grade science class to remember what water displacement was! Sufficient to say, I did it but it was more messy and complicated than anticipated. And my berries were much more soupy than intended.
Wednesday:
On the schedule for tonight is Grandma’s fudge, cooking the sweet potatoes, and chopping up some ingredients for tomorrow. Now you may be saying, “Rachel fudge is not a Thanksgiving food, where is your pumpkin pie.” To which I would reply 1) remember when I talked about finding American ingredients? I was not about to run all over Paris to find canned pumpkin 2) Growing up we scheduled the Thanksgiving dinner around the time that the Dallas Cowboys game was on (they play every Thanksgiving). If the game was in the evening then we had an early meal, if the game was in the afternoon then we had a late meal. And while we watched this game, we ate Grandma Jewett’s fudge. It has the consistency of thick frosting or ice cream topping more so than the traditional fudge you would find in the store (which is more similar to Nana’s fudge that we make on Christmas)
Constantly stirring the fudge while switching between video chatting family, snapchatting friends, and watching Netflix was a great way to spend a Thursday night in my little apartment.
Thursday:
I picked up the turkey breast and started to get nervous! But prepping and cooking went a lot quicker than I expected. I was prepared and nervous. Having the things cut before and the potatoes ready already made a HUGE difference. I had the main kitchen space to myself, threw on “Folklore the long pond session” and made Thanksgiving dinner.
Dinner was a complete success! Everyone (but the 5 year old) loved the dinner. My host mom raved about the cranberries and the fudge. The sweet and sour green beans were a hit. My nine year old adored the gravy. And personally I was pleasantly surprised by how the turkey itself turned out!
When describing what Thanksgiving is I started with how when I was in school I was taught the Pilgrims came to America and met the native people and they shared a meal together and taught each other things. Since then, the holiday has evolved into being a day for family to come together, eat a ton of food, and take a pause to look at all our blessings and things to be thankful for, then we kick of Christmas! I explained part of the tradition is going around the table and sharing what we are thankful for. This, to my surprise, was very difficult. The kids did not understand the concept. Even stock American children answers like “I am thankful for my family” seemed like an alien sentence to them. But the adults understood a little better.
I said I was very thankful that I feel like I am not just the au pair but apart of the family and my host mom responded very well to that. She said that touched her and she was glad.
My secret is out, I do know how to cook. My host mom pointed out that I had been holding out on them. To which I explained – I can follow a recipe and cook but I like to do it alone. Cooking causes me a lot of stress, but when I have the time and the resources I can and will do it. I enjoyed facetiming friends, snapchating my cooking adventure, and watching tv in my chambre de bonne. And today I enjoyed using the full kitchen listening to Taylor Swift, alone. There is such a different type of pressure when people are watching what you are doing. I feel judged for my methods and choices haha. When it comes to cooking my motto “work smarter not harder” doesn’t always come to fruition.
What am I thankful for this year?
-Finally getting to Paris. Seriously this has been a dream and a wish for YEARS and then I was so close and it felt like it would never come, and it did. I am also thankful that being here has turned out so well, so far. I have good friends to view museums with, dance and drink with, take long walks through the streets and forests of Paris with, and complain about children with.
-I am beyond thankful for my host family. They have welcomed me into their home and try to make me feel welcome always. The space they have provided me is magnificent. I am looking forward to spending Christmas with them (even if every other day I say I am so tired of kids and am sad about Christmas)
-When going around saying what we were thankful for at friendsgiving today with other American au pairs I said that my friends at home haven’t forgotten me. And it was kind of funny but also so true. I am so so thankful for my friends who have continuously tried to stay in touch, who snapchat me regularly, video chat me when they can, and text me life updates.
-I could write a whole blog about how thankful I am for my boyfriend – who is suffering through long distance with me because he knows how important being here was for me. Who despite knowing that I will forever be a different person when next he sees me, still encouraged me to come to Paris. I am thankful that he carves out time for me, sends me stupid tik toks, listens to me ramble about my day, and makes me smile miles and miles away.
-My family. My mom and I video chat just like when I was just a drive away – the big things and the little every day things. My sister took time out of her day to have a movie night with me, and that means the world! My brothers smile and say hello whenever mom videos around them. My dad knows exactly what to say to me. I miss them all so much. And I am thankful for my extended family too – they pick up my video calls and that always makes me smile.
What are you thankful for? Being thankful isn’t just meant for one day a year. I realized with the cultural difference, being thankful is a life style choice. To live life aware of your privilege, aware of your every day surroundings and choosing to outwardly acknowledge your thanks.
~Be you
Rachel
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