Turkey Day Abroad

November 27 marked Thanksgiving, that special day in which Americans come together to fellowship with family and friends and give thanks for what we have...in addition to giving ourselves unrepentant permission to be utter gluttons for 24 hours. Schools are cancelled and major businesses are closed for this day throughout America. However, life goes on across the pond. So what, you may be wondering, did  I do to celebrate Thanksgiving? Good question. Let's recap:

These three little cupcakes may not look like
much, but picture 81 of these eggless
labors of love.

I love my students and was really excited about doing something for them for Thanksgiving since life does not temporarily halt on the fourth Thursday of every November and, alas, I had to work. Instead of just buying some cookies for the kiddies, I decided to bake. Did I bake something simple and easy to transport, like a cake or a pan of brownies? No, absolutely not. Because some of my students have egg allergies (talk about a horrible thing to not be able to eat!), Yours Truly decided to bake eggless vanilla cupcakes with eggless chocolate chip cookie dough frosting. Yes, I tapped into my Betty Crocker/Soccer Mom side for this one. Now, finding your basic American baking ingredients (baking soda, baking powder, muffin pans) was not easy. I had to go to a store that specializes in American foodstuffs--at ridculously inflated prices--just to find these things. Then, I stayed up baking 81 cupcakes (I have almost 200 students, but only baked enough for the youngest ones and some of the faculty and staff) for about four hours. Finally, I get done. The hard part should be over now, right? Or not. The next morning, I loaded 7 pans filled with 12 cupcakes each into an industrial-sized bag and proceeded to lug it down the street to the metro station, onto two different metros, and up the street to my school. By the time I arrived, I'd come to the conclusion that I need to keep my baking expeditions for my students extra simple, since trying to transport all this stuff was just not the deal. But I really, really wanted to make something eggless so all of my kiddies could eat. 

Cupcakes were a hit!!

In any event, the drama of baking and transporting all of my eggless goodies to school was well worth it when everyone seemed to fall in love with them. Cupcakes such as Americans know them are pretty much non-existent here, so this was something exotic for students and teachers alike and they were a hit! The kids originally looked at my hard-researched cookie dough frosting like it was diseased, but after explaining the recipe, they tasted it and fell in love. I mean, who can resist cookie dough anything? After I finished handing them out in one of my classes, the students gave me a really lovely book of Thanksgiving drawings they'd made for me and a group hug, which was the most special part of the day. You don't really realize how long it's been since you've had a legitimate hug until someone comes up to you and just lays one on. On that day, in particular, I needed and appreciated that. 

The cover of the beautiful gift one of my
classes made me!

So, after working all day (including going to my private class); going to the gym (I'm trying to get it right, get it tight); and showering, I finally had my Thanksgiving dinner: salmon, rice, and carrots. I was tired and starving, so it did the deed. I then talked to the parentals and other family for a bit and went to bed.

Compliments of Christine "Stewart". Turkey stuffed with
half of an onion and a sprig of rosemary.

Yet, the story doesn't end here. I did have a Thanksgiving dinner! That Saturday, a friend hosted "A (Late) Thanksgiving Potluck" dinner for friends and it was a hit! After all, who really said that Thanksgiving had to be on a Thursday? I, again, made cupcakes (with eggs this time, and just your basic vanilla on vanilla) and everyone else brought a variety of foodstuffs. Christine, the baddest hostess in town, tapped into her inner Martha Stewart and baked what was probably the most delicious baked turkey (I'm more of a deep-fried gal myself) that I'd tasted in years by using, of course, Martha's recipe that included "a sprig of rosemary." Other trimmings included dressing, mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, sweet  potatoes, and lots of wine. Once we figured out how to carve a turkey--or, rather, found someone in the group who already knew--we did the whole "I'm thankful for..." bit and ate! Good times, good people, good eats.  After thoroughly filling myself with the most American meal I'd had in a very long time, I caught the last metros back to my neck of the woods and did the only appropriate thing left to do: sleep. 

I had a real Thanksgiving dinner!