Turkey for you, Turkey (not) for me.

I still can't believe it's already been a year since we arrived here in the cold North of France (yes, a huge climate change from the wind and rain of Normandy and Nantes. Oh.. wait..)

This week is a little bit depressing but i'm trying to keep my spirits up for Saturday. We're having a big Turkey Day feast with some friends, and i'm excited to finally try my hand at cooking for a large group now that i'm more confident.

This year it's been fun to celebrate my traditions with our friends. This is the first place that we've really had good friends (sauf Katy and Jean in Normandy who are, ironically enough, in the north with us now) but that is to say that up here, we not only have good friends, we have an abundance of them.. thus, a large, American style meal is in order.

This week i've been experimenting with new recipes. I baked eggplant farci on Sunday night so that i'd know whether it is good enough for myself and the other vegetarians (and the answer is yes!) and Monday I attacked a pumpkin pie from scratch. I'll get a stronger mixer next time but overall it feels like it'll be good. I've rehearsed, we prepared a week in advance with the decorations and whatnot, and now it's just a question of putting all the pieces together to make the perfect Franco-American Thanksgiving.

What's even harder to believe is that one month from now, we'll be in America with my family! My whole family! It's really incredible. After not having been home in over two years, I can't believe we are finally so close. The unfortunate thing is that we'll be landing in Brussels at 7am on... wait for it... the morning of January 1st. Here's to hoping the airline will serve us champagne as we pass through midnight in the different timezones. Designated driver.. why have one of those why you can have a pilot?

So wish me luck for getting through these final exams and happily sending my children off in their different directions (internships, study abroad (watch out world.. especially croatia.. oh lord..)) and hoping that they come back next year all enriched and worldly. And before we know it, we'll be dreaming of a white christmas and roasting those chestnuts (barf, by the way) on an open fire.