Frenchgiving

There are a handful of American assistants in Bourges. So, we decided we should celebrate Thanksgiving together with some of our French friends, all of whom have never experienced a Thanksgiving.

Everyone brought something different to make up our Thanksgiving feast.

Our menu consisted of:

Stuffing: A recipe from Michael’s aunt. It was the best stuffing I have ever had. We learned that French stuffing is usually made with meat rather than bread. Baguette stuffing is the BEST stuffing.

Buy 10 baguettes get 1 free. So French

 

Giblets: Large turkeys aren’t easy to find, but it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without turkey. I’ve never tried giblets before; it was delicious! (Update: To get a turkey before Christmas in France you need to order one about a week in advance from a local butcher. I did this my second year in France while in Dijon. Cost: about 60 euros for 12 people).

Macaroni and cheese: Julia made some extraordinary mac and cheese using elemental and gruyère cheese. I’ll be making my mac and cheese with these cheeses from now on. (The Frenchies were really excited for mac and cheese.)

Brussel sprouts: Delicious and made my Michael’s American friend, Natalie, who came from Paris for the weekend.

Dessert:

Pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies: Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite desserts this time of year. My mom makes THE best pumpkin pie and pumpkin cookies, so I felt obligated to share them with everyone. The French don’t ever use pumpkin for desserts, (normally just for soups and savory dishes) but they loved what I made!

Peanut butter pie: Ally shared an excellent peanut butter pie recipe with the French. Peanut butter isn’t popular here like it is in the U.S; tragic, I know.

Lemon bars: Julia’s friend, Laine, is doing TAPIF in Dijon. She brought lemon bars with her!

Slutty brownies: We shared a lot of culture… and made too many desserts

Even the burnt cookies were good

Supplies were limited, so the pies were in escargot dishes