Homemaker that is, yep, that’s me right now, Suzy Homemaker. As I get ready for my first Thanksgiving in Germany, I spent the entire day prior to Thanksgiving cooking.
For some reason there is a belief amongst my family members and some friends (mostly Erika) that I don’t know how to cook, or can’t cook very well. This idea MAY be supported by the fact that for many years I had to work a LOT. It’s not that I don’t know how to cook. My mom made a point of teaching us how to cook from a very young age. I can remember wanting to help stir but being so short she had to sit me on the counter so I could. It’s not that I don’t enjoy cooking. When I have the time and energy to invest into it and people that appreciate a good meal; I totally enjoy cooking.
For years I simply did not have the time and energy to invest into it. So when I’d come home after a long day I’d whip up something as quickly as possible. Sometimes this meant cooking on a temp that was too high, or also trying to do several other things at the same time which led to poor outcomes. There was this one time I tried a different spaghetti sauce, I still hear about this terrible spaghetti. I make spaghetti ALL THE TIME! I don’t use just the store bought sauce, I use fresh ingredients to add to the Prego sauce. I make a pretty yummy spaghetti sauce. But the TERRIBLE spaghetti sauce I made the ONE time I tried to use Ragu is the one I hear about.
The fact that I have shown up to family gatherings with a cake I bought from someone else MAY have helped to support this theory that I can’t cook.
When I showed up once with made from scratch cookies that I made myself, my own mother did not believe I made them. She kept saying, “Come on now, where did you get these from?” They were just SOOOO good she could not believe I made them. Luckily I have a great sense of humor and take it all ok. .
Back to Thanksgiving …I get off track. Typically we have Thanksgiving at my Mama’s house. We eat at lunch time. Mama makes a turkey using a recipe that I got from a customer YEARS ago when I worked at Wannamaker Drug Store in Cheraw, SC. It consists of pouring a bottle of Coke inside the turkey, cooking it for like an hour (it may be a little longer) at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. You have to make sure you keep the oven door closed the entire time. Then you turn off the oven and let it sit over night in there. She loves it because it cooks while she sleeps and she doesn’t have to worry about it. My Mama also makes Sweet Potato Pies. This is Ty Bug’s favorite and she usually makes an extra one for him to take home. She makes “square macaroni and cheese” as well. This is the home made kind. Ty Bug and Chicadee grew up with the “square” kind and for the longest time wouldn’t eat anything else. While they love my “square macaroni and cheese,” I can never seem to get it like Ma’s. Eli prefers the macaroni with the powdered cheese. Mama also makes a home made dressing. Its from a “recipe” that she got from her mom, my Grandma McDonald. I use the term “recipe” very lightly. There’s some of this, and some of that, and you can throw in whatever you like. The main thing is it starts with corn bread that you crumble, it has sage in it, and it soaks over night in chicken broth before you cook it. My sister, Andrea makes green bean casserole. It’s not a dish that I’m a fan of, no matter who makes it. But apparently it is really yummy. My sister, Melissa makes one of my favorite dishes, broccoli salad!! I LOVE that stuff!! Now, there are lots of other things that get made and quite often I get to Mama’s early and help her prepare everything. No meal at my Mama’s is complete without veggies that were canned from the gardens they used to have before my Papa passed away. We also usually have cheese pennies and sausage balls. It’s funny how each one of us girls have come up with our own version of these treats Mama makes every year. Deviled eggs is a must have at any family gathering, it’s one of my favorites. I used to sing my mom’s least favorite song while she cooked and tell her I would stop if she would let me have a deviled egg. My sisters are probably going to comment terrible things about my eating of deviled eggs. I will not confirm or deny, but keep in mind they are my sisters and enjoy trying to embarrass me.
Back to Thanksgiving in Germany. We will be having a Friendsgiving with our wonderful neighbors and friends. In order to have the typical Thanksgiving meal I’m used to, I’m making some things I’m used to other people making. So yesterday I started cooking. I started with a beef stew so that my family would have dinner for the evening without it interfering with my Thanksgiving cooking.
Then I baked the sweet potatoes for the pies and the cornbread for the dressing.
This is my first time making sweet potato pie. I made 2 of them. I discovered that I had taken the recipe down wrong and the cook time I had as 50 minutes was supposed to be 15 minutes, but thankfully my nose had me check on the pies before disaster struck.
I boiled the turkey necks and chicken gizzards in home made chicken broth I made earlier in the week. Giblet gravy is something I am used to making. So is the dressing. The last thing I did was make the broccoli salad. This was a first for me. My sister does it SO well. She endured 2 video calls during my cooking extravaganza.
My neighbor Andera will be making the green bean casserole that my sister Andrea usually makes.
Today I have to bake the dressing, the macaroni and cheese, and make the collards. These things are all things I make regularly.
My day of cooking included video calls and several messages for support. 😉
My handsome hubby with the amazing smile is responsible for the turkey. We are smoking a turkey for the first time this year. We brined the turkey yesterday, which is a first. We stuffed the turkey this morning, which is a first.
I’m greatly concerned about this turkey.
We are using our beloved and highly praised Big Green Egg. We use it all the time for other meats. It just concerns me that the turkey is not COVERED!! Anyway, I guess I’ll have to give y’all an update tomorrow and let you know how everything turns out. One great thing about being in Germany for Thanksgiving is all the stores are still open since it’s not a holiday for them. 😉 So, if something goes wrong, we can just go pick something up. I have faith things are going to turn out just fine.
The biggest differences here are:
The kitchen is much smaller. The sink is smaller. The stove top and oven are much smaller. I have to convert temps to celsius. The refrigerator is MUCH smaller. It’s the size of a college dorm fridge back in the states. We tend to keep what produce we can out instead of in the fridge.
We have an extra fridge downstairs. This calls for lots of trips up and down the stairs. For a clumsy girl like me, this then leads to a few falls up the stairs over the course of this day. Our water here is different as well and we use pitchers to filter it. I prefer to cook with the filtered water. All in all, minor adjustments to make for wonderful experience of living in this beautiful country
What are YOUR Thanksgiving traditions? What does your traditional Thanksgiving meal consist of? While there are some staples, everyone’s is a little different. I’m certainly missing my family today, but I am incredibly thankful for traditions passed down, wonderful technology that allows me to stay in touch, and new friends with whom we can celebrate.
I hope each of you have a wonderful day today whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, I hope you take the time to think of all the people and things in your life that make you smile.
#KeriSoVery #SoVeryThankful #SoVeryFarFromHome #SoVeryHungry #SoVeryTraditional #ICanCook
Keri SoVery... 
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