Thanksgiving and holiday intro photo dump

I've finally gathered some of the pics taken on Thanksgiving and the subsequent weekend.  Enjoy!

*Very* carefully setting the hot galette on the table.

(more pics after the jump!)

Holiday Kick-off

I had such a packed start to the holiday season this weekend, I hardly know where to begin.  It's almost enough to make me say "eh, too much" and write nothing.  First, I think it is important to note that in Finnish the word for December, "Joulukuu", translates as "Christmas-moon".  This gives a hint of how seriously they take their holiday celebration. 

On Friday the Kumpula Campus hosted a Christmas party with the theme "Cirque du Destins Lumineux."  The entire Physicum (physics building) was decorated like a travelling circus.  I went with one of my colleagues, expecting it to be an uncomfortable "nurse your wine and make small-talk" gathering.  I knew I was mistaken when I saw that my (free!) ticket included FOUR drink vouchers and I heard the band performing sound-checks as I wrapped-up my work for the day.

(more after the jump)

Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Thanksgiving was more wonderful than I could've hoped for.  It started with me introducing my coworkers to pumpkin pie and culminated in a dinner party that stretched into the early AM.

I called my colleagues to the break room around lunchtime for pie and cookies, and they all dutifully sampled pumpkin pie and chit-chatted about whether they needed a new drill, new samples, etc (geophysicists...). My South African coworker said pumpkin pies are traditional for him too, but that they were different than what I had prepared.  I let him know that American pies aren't exactly like what I prepared either.  The only pumpkin I could find was a jack-o-lantern, so the flavor was a bit watery.

Then (with my boss's permission) I dipped out early to dash home and start cooking.  I got on video-skype with my parents, and it was like we were hosting dueling cooking shows, because I'd be darting on and off screen, furiously whisking a bowl of popover dough, while mom was stirring collard greens and dad was showing off his ambrosia.

One of my roommates decided to roast a chicken after all, so we got dinner on the table a touch later than we had originally planned.  I teased our guests about how we were participating in the annual "waiting for the bird to finish" tradition.  Everyone was surprised at how nicely we had arranged our bleak Soviet-looking apartment.  I was thrilled that we made it look swank using scavenged goods.  Our centerpiece was a massive candelabra that my roommate found when she was walking on Suomenlinna.  I added origami decorations, filling little folded boxes with paper flowers that resembled mandalas.  I also built a pyramid out of stacked origami turkeys.  The finnish text on the paper looked great with the box-pattern.  It was gratifying that our guests appreciated the effort.  My Indian friend's eyes got huge when she saw our table, and she snapped tons of pictures.  The final touch was an evergreen branch that I stuck in an old-fashioned beer bottle.  At the end of the meal we decked it out in candy canes like a Christmas tree to celebrate the start of the holiday season. 

(more after the jump)

Thanksgiving RETURNS: less flesh, more people (not in a diet-y way)

My plans for Thanksgiving have evolved in a way I'm rather pleased with.  As alluded to in my title (and in the borrowed image above), I've reconsidered the meat portion of my Thanksgiving meal.  The impetus for this decision is laziness.  Every time I thought about scrounging for a '2-kg gammon,' I just really wanted to lie down.  I've decided to go with it, and instead I'm adapting a recipe for a sweet potato-chevre galette as the main dish.  It seems that "a Vegetarian Thanksgiving" is a meme this year.  Martha Stewart had an episode about it, tying it to the wholesome foods and farms eco-movement.  I remember growing up with people who didn't eat meat for moral reasons, but now it seems many vegetarians are ecologically motivated.  Martha's having a veggie Thanksgiving with her daughter, though she is still roasting a turkey at home.  NPR also had special coverage.


When I made the decision to go veggie for Thanksgiving, I also solidified my plans to celebrate with my roommates, one of whom is a vegetarian for reasons a little more idealistic and less pragmatic than myself.  We divvied up the food load, and I'm responsible for the vegetarian main dish, popovers, whatever brussels sprouts I have, and cookies for after dinner (in case our foreign friends aren't game for pumpkin pie).  My roomie is making mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, dressing, and maybe roast root vegetables.  We are making anyone who attends bring wine.  I might also bake a swedish limpa or some other bread to add heft to the spread.  Maybe I could make baked beans or hoppin' john too...


I'm still going to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade with the family via Skype, but now I'm having a real sit down meal too!  My veggie roommate's family has the same tradition as mine of going around the table and naming something you're thankful for.  We're going to do this, and we even plan to light candles for the centerpiece.


As for my changing menu, I made a half batch (8 mini-cookies) of the almond ambrosia macaroons and they are already gone.  I will not be making them again.  Calorically, ounce for ounce, it's like eating butter.  Instead, I've put together some slice-and-bake cookies from the leftover toasted coconut and orange zest.  I spiced it with cardamom and vanilla sugar to echo the kheer I made a few nights ago.  I've been really into quasi-Indian flavor profiles lately.  I blame it on my meatless, legume-heavy diet.


As in my previous Thanksgiving post, I'm including the links to recipes and details about how I'm altering them after the jump.

Thanksgiving Abroad

I've been wrangling with the challenge of celebrating Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday, BTW) so far from home and family.  I believe I've hit upon a satisfactory solution.


First: Stream the Macy's Parade.  The 9 am eastern time showing is actually perfect for me, because that translates to 4 pm Helsinki time, right when I'll be getting home from work and preparing dinner.  After the parade, I'll scrounge for Charlie Brown Thanksgiving clips.


Second: Video skype with my family!  When I suggested that they set the lap-top a place at the table, I was only half joking.  This is a legit case of better living through the internet. 


Third: While turkey is not on the menu, I am taking this opportunity to experiment with 'special-occasion' dishes I've been wanting to try.  I've been pretty much a vegetarian since I got to Finland (meat is too expensive!), so Nigella Lawson's ham in coca-cola is perfectly festive.  The re-entry of meat in my diet is more than enough to compensate for the missing turkey.  I've included the rest of my menu below.

Thanksgiving Menu

(recipes adapted from Martha Stewart, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Nigella, and FoodNetwork)

• pan-seared brussel sprouts with pine-nuts and garlic
• roasted root vegetables (sweet potato, potato, beets, celeriac)
• popovers
• Nigella's coca-cola ham
• pumpkin pie (to bring to work)
• chocolate-dipped ambrosia almond coconut macaroons

links to recipes and reasoning after the jump...