Christine in Croatia: CELEBRATE Thanksgiving 2014 post and record of

Well on Thanksgiving, I was able to say hi and see some of you at Poli's house, (thanks to FaceTime). So I thought you all might like to see my first attempt at preparing a traditional New England Thanksgiving meal, here in Croatia.
The official American holiday falls on the fourth Thursday in November. It is not a holiday here.

When I think of a typical Thanksgiving meal, I think of turkey with stuffing and gravy, fall vegetables, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Tom thoughts are of Pumpkin pie with whip cream.

Last year we had only been here a month and, with the exception of potatoes, I really could not find anything familiar nor similar to even attempt cooking.

Thanksgiving 2013 - Our first holiday in Zagreb. Having met this family only the Sunday before Thanksgiving, they were gracious to invite us to spend the day with them! Enjoyed good food and company. Not many Americans here, but we meet two, just five days before Thanksgiving!
God is good:-)

Now in 2014, having been here just over a year, I have a better idea of where and what I can buy. I have established a food shopping routine, have a supply of spices, and have figure out how to adjust my oven temperature.
Plus family has sent a few items from home.

A few things I have learned

When you do see, buy - it may not be restocked, and some items are only available in season or have a limited supply.
Cooking from scratch is the norm - not much prepared foods...you can not buy canned gravy or boxed stuffing, no jello, corn bread mix nor do they sell pumpkin in a can. It really does take more time and you do need to remember to plan ahead. {I frequently make and freeze chicken broth and use up our old bread to make bread crumbs and stuffing} I am thankful my mom cooked from scratch and I did learn from her (just a few things:) The bonus to all this is you really can’t beat the taste and it is healthier!
Getting a turkey - well not the norm here, plus my oven is too small to fit one. So after looking over my options, I bought a boneless, skinless turkey breast in one store and a turkey wing in another.

The Menu:

Roast Turkey wrapped in bacon stripes with sage butter and (my frozen chix) broth, over stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed butternut squash, carrots, and gravy.

The early morning prep work, (and the prep worker:)

The results!

Bonus: The opening of the long awaited, first IKEA store in Zagreb - they sell really good jarred cranberry sauce. {Yes I have been there more than a few times}

dobar tek

Desert menu:

Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Banana Cake Bread, & M&M oatmeal raisin cookies.

Lazy man apple pie

Pumpkin Pie! I had to make two, one to pay the prep man and one to share.

Oh the smell in the air...fall spices are the best!

For future reference and my disclaimers:

I have not made pie crust from scratch in years! There is no "crisco" here, so it is a butter recipe, and I used the tried and true method of 2 knives to cut in with. Taste great, but a little tough. I need more practice, work on a lighter touch, (always was my problem).
Butternut and acorn squash are the only ones i recognize. Orange pumpkins are green and I have yet to see turnip... but zucchini is abundant here, just like home!
I won’t ever make pumpkin from scratch. The canned pumpkin is from America, thx Poli! the canned milk I got the last time we were in the Netherlands.
Pureća translates turkey and prsa is breast, so although the turkey package translates "class A turkey breast" ... possibly pressed ... krila is wing, it was a wing.
I made the bread for the stuffing the day before, left in cast iron pan. Adding everything in am. Also left chicken broth frozen so it would melt off top slowly.

We love Thanksgiving - it is a great holiday to relax, eat great food and thank our God for all our blessings and all he is doing. We fixed and ate a great dinner and then had a few people over for dessert and coffee. It was fun to introduce "american" desserts to our neighbors and one family brought over traditional Croatia strudel...still hot from the oven! Yes I did eat to much, fat and happy in Croatia...

Some Thanksgiving facts:

*The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, a feast of gratitude for God’s blessings. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.

Days of thanksgiving were celebrated throughout the colonies after fall harvests. All thirteen colonies did not, however, celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time. *Wikipedia

**New Englanders remembered the Pilgrims’ effort for many years through regional celebrations of Thanksgiving. Sometimes American Presidents would set aside a day for the nation to be thankful. In 1789, for example, President George Washington proclaimed November 26th as a national day of thanksgiving. Here’s the core of his presidential proclamation: “Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor–and Whereas both Houses of Congress have by their Joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

…The national controversy over the day of the holiday continued, until Congress passed a law on December 26, 1941, making the fourth Thursday of November the one, official, national day….**Copyright © 2011 by Mark D. Roberts