Meet the Fokkers - Pre Christmas 2006

Pardon the reference. Having both of our sets of parents together with us is truly a great experience...but I still laugh at these movies to think how bad it could have been. Brings great holiday cheer.

Meet the Parents // Meine Braut, ihr Vater und ich
Meet the Fockers // Meine Frau, Ihre Schwiegereltern und ich

On the 10th of December, my parents began their almost 3 week German Christmas vacation. They had originally wanted to come in order to celebrate Eva's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary.

As luck would have it, as my parents completed the planning and when they realized that it was so close to Christmas, we talked them into staying a bit longer so they could celebrate Christmas with us as well.

Here's my folks on the day they arrived. We wanted to keep them active to keep them awake...so we headed to a Christmas market in Hattingen and had some obligatory mulled red wine (Glühwein) and some sausages.

Dreaming of a White Christmas

In the tradition of my family, I travelled deep into the Bavarian Forest to pick out the best christmas tree that could fit in our apartment. I spent hours finding that perfect tree - absent from any tarnish or blemishes. I cut it down using my trusty Swiss Army knife and carried it on my shoulders for miles through feet of snow back to our car to bring back home to my pregnant wife as a trophy of my efforts and a symbol of my love...

... or maybe I just drove the 400 meters to the lot selling trees and brought it back. Regardless, I think I found a good one, and we had fun putting on the lights and ornaments. With the Christmas music playing on the stereo, we were definitely getting in the 'Christmas Spirit'.

While we were decorating the tree, our 'art' arrived. As a 'Thank You' for buying the condo, the builder gave us art. The artist actually came by and we discussed a bit what we were looking for. She then made for us a custom piece of art that goes perfectly with our condo.

We were a bit giddy of getting real 'art'...since both Eva and I are basically artistically inept.

If you like what you see, please visit the Andrea Zimmermann's website.

Above is our Nativity Scene that we got last Christmas as a gift from Eva's family. The figures are hand carved from the Bavarian Forest.
Gould Family photo 2006. We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

The Wishbone

After waiting a week or two, I got to introduce Eva to yet another American Tradition: the pulling of the wishbone. After carefully letting the wishbone dry out, I explained the rules...leaving out the strategy of "the pull" in hopes that I could win somehow. After all, I had years of experience.





Despite my efforts, the result was as follows:

The middle part was literally hanging by a thread of skin. Eva won and got to make her wish. So much for strategy and experience!

I can't say that I've ever seen a wishbone break like this...I guess I didn't let it dry out long enough.

Thanksgiving 2006

Well, Thanksgiving 2006 started out innocent enough. We wanted to invite a few friends over for an American celebration - Gould style. We sent out handwritten invitations to 10 friends...now the work could begin.


Unlike previous Thanksgivings, we were in our new place and had enough room for 10 people + Eva and I. I also wanted a larger turkey than the 12 pounder I got the last time. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one large enough in the store, and ended up ordering one from a turkey farm close to Erlangen.

When I told Eva that I ordered an 8 kilo turkey (about 19 pounds), she thought I was crazy and told me it would never fit in our oven. My mom even went to the grocery store in Borger and measured (with a tape measure) the dimensions of a 19 pound bird (in a small town like Borger, this will get you some funny looks).

At the end of the day, the turkey was 10 kilos (about 22 pounds). It barely fit in the oven.

We had to do some rearranging to get it to fit in the fridge. With all of the other food we needed for the feast, it was tight in the fridge. If it were a bit colder outside, we could have stored the other items in the garage.

I really don't like cleaning turkeys. It is a pretty gross task. Having a fresh turkey that was slaughtered only two days prior sounds pretty cool in theory (and it did taste really fresh), until you have to cut out the heart of the bird. Thankfully, it didn't bleed all over the place.

Anytime you are in a foreign country, you have to improvise with ingredients from time to time. I couldn't find molasses and just used extra sugar for the sweet potatoes. (After a heated discussion with our guests after the fact, I know now where to find something like molasses).

Even in a sausage loving country like Germany, I couldn't find any Italian sausage for the stuffing (kinda like Jimmy Dean)...so I did what any good German would do and used bratwurst!

Four and a half hours to go...

This farm raised, free range turkey was great! It had a huge layer of fat on the neck section and tons of dark...signs of a slowly raised turkey. It also produced a lot of juice, which was almost overflowing from the pan.

When I was taking the bird out of the oven, all I could think of was how embarassing it would be if I dropped the thing on the floor.

Eva and I posing with the turkey...

Eva did a great job setting the table and making a very festive Thanksgiving atmosphere.

At this point, everyone is thinking: 'Rob, hurry up and take the picture...we want to eat!'

We had a great time with our friends and our German version of Thanksgiving. While some things are different, the basics and the important things (friends and thanks) remain the same.

Next time I need to make some more sweet potatoes, more gravy, and get a bigger turkey (just kidding).

Also in good Thanksgiving tradition, for the following week, we ate turkey sandwiches, turkey leftovers, turkey soup...

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes

For Thanksgiving this year, I made sweet potatoes from scratch. A few folks asked for the recipe, so I thought I would post it so that others could use it as well. The recipe comes from Williams-Sonoma.

On their homepage, they have a 'recipes' section. I have a few of their cookbooks and can definitely recommend their modern takes on many classics.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Burbon and Molasses

Ingredients (Makes 4-6 Servings)

• 6 small yams, about 3 lbs (1.5 kg)
• 4 tablespoons (2oz / 60 g) unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons light unsulfured molasses (Zukerrübensirup)
• 3 tablespoons bourbon (but more doesn't hurt)
• salt and pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (Piment/Gewürz)
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (Muskatnuß)

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).

Prick each yam several times with a fork. Place the yams directly on an oven rack and bake until tender when pierced with a small knife, about 45 minutes.

Cut the yams in half lengthwise. Scoop the flesh into a large saucepan and discard the skins. Add the butter, sugar, molasses, bourbon, salt, pepper, allspice, and nutmeg. Mash with a potato masher until smooth. Rewarm the yams over low heat, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Transfer the yams to a bowl and serve at once.

Enjoy! Let me know if the recipe works out well for you.