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...
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