Improvising Thanksgiving in Italy

Yesterday we had a wonderful "Thanksgiving Day" here in Italy, only a couple of days late as compared to all of our family and friends back home. With 10 people in our apartment, we pulled out the kitchen table to the dining room and every chair in the house was put to use. What a fun time it was! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, along with Fourth of July, and is uniquely American. A holiday that is all about getting together with family and friends, enjoying the company and focusing on the good things that we have in life. The reminder to be thankful that goes bone deep for our culture, if only for a day.

Not only was the day a great time, the days and weeks leading up to Thanksgiving were a lot of fun too. Putting on Thanksgiving in Italy is a challenge. It takes a lot of advance planning and quite a bit of last minute improvisation. Finding all of the ingredients, as well as making a lot more of the food from scratch, takes advance legwork but the result of a successful day make it so well worth it. And because it's so rare, and took so much effort, we value it a lot more than if we ran down to the store to pick everything up the day before.

Here's a little bit of the challenges and improvisation that we deal with here...

Turkey - You can't just run to the grocery store and buy a frozen turkey. At most you'll find a turkey breast in the butcher's case. Last year on our first Thanksgiving quest we learned that the only way to get a whole turkey was to order it from the local macelleria (butcher shop). This year we ordered the Turkey a couple of weeks in advance and picked it up Friday, freshly butchered for us (although a few pin feathers had to be removed - ever done that before?). The smallest one they could get was 6.5kg - about 14.3lbs. We couldn't have fit a bigger one in our small oven!

Cranberries - Cranberry sauce made from fresh berries is an important part of Thanksgiving dinner, a must have for me. Last year we discovered that cranberries don't exist in Italy - there isn't even an Italian word for them! Try describing a cranberry to someone who has never even seen or tasted one. Good luck with that. We've had them "imported" by visitors in November the last two years. We lucked out in the timing and the fact that we remembered to ask them to bring them for us in advance. So fresh cranberry sauce and cranberry relish was available this day.

Stuffing - A basic staple, this is one of the easier things to find ingredients for. A couple of twists were thrown in though... I put "sage" on the grocery list for the stuffing recipe I use and my husband bought fresh sage. Great, except the recipe called for dried sage. An internet search later, and I had a stuffing recipe with fresh sage and parsley. A quick run to the store for the parsley, and I was in business. (Thank goodness for the Internet, and that it wasn't a holiday in Italy - the store was open!) As I was making the stuffing I realized the bread cubes, instead of being unseasoned, were flavored with olive oil and salt. OK then, just a bit more Italian flavor. The stuffing came out great, rave reviews especially from my son... I want to use fresh sage every time now!

Mashed Potatoes - Yes, there are lots of potatoes in Italy. But not a lot of sour cream. Our friend Mike was making the potatoes this year and wanted some sour cream for the recipe he was making (not a low calorie feast here!). Here in Italy, not every store has the same things. You might find sour cream in one store out of ten. And that store may not have it in all locations, or all the time. It's crazy to us Americans! But my husband has found a good, consistent source of sour cream, so he bought some and delivered it to Mike a few days before Thanksgiving. It takes a village to make a Thanksgiving dinner.

Pumpkin Pie - I usually don't like pumpkin pie but this year I got it in my head that we needed to add this traditional dish. Pumpkin is not a hugely popular food here, you can't find canned pumpkin in the grocery store nor are fresh pumpkins readily available. I had a coworker who travelled here for work in November bring a few cans of pumpkin puree for me. So pumpkin in hand, I needed to make a pie.

OK - first off, crust. Hmmm, I could make crust from scratch but where to find shortening here? Is there such a thing as a pre-made crust? My husband sleuthed around at several stores, asked moms at school, and discovered a pre-made crust but it wasn't frozen and didn't come in pie tins. Our pie tins are in storage in the US, so we had to buy a couple of pans. The closest he could find were torta pans, which are sort of pie shaped, more like a cross between a shallow cake and a pie, and were bigger - 11 inches in diameter vs. the normal 9 inches.

Second, the pie filling itself. The recipe on the can said evaporated milk. Yeah, that was going to be impossible. So searching on the internet I found you could substitute regular milk with no problems. I was set. I started to make the pies Friday night. Cinnamon, check. Nutmeg, check. Ginger... no ginger. Hmmm, well I had Allspice. I figured a teaspoon of that wouldn't hurt. So by the time I was done I had two huge pumpkin pies (it took the filling recipe for three pies to fill these babies) that didn't really follow a recipe. After about 1.5 hours of baking (two very large pies in a very small oven = longer time), our house was filled with the delicious smell of pumpkin pies.

For whipped cream, we had to buy heavy cream and actually whip it ourselves. That was an experience too! I must admit, they turned out very tasty. Much better than a storebought pie, I think I actually like pumpkin pie now. And it only took one giant pie to feed our 10 people, so now I have to figure out what to do with this second giant pie... to work I think! My Italians colleagues could use exposure to this American treat.

In addition to all of that food, we had a yummy spinach casserole, brownies and blondies, salsa and guacamole, hummus and pita... all brought by our guests. And the perfect complement was the Italian prosecco (like champagne) and red wine we enjoyed. I think that tradition of Italian beverages must go home with us.

Our second and last Thanksgiving in Italy was a success. It was a truly authentic, American feast with great friends. The only thing missing was the long weekend....

Where ever you are in the world, however you celebrate being thankful, I wish you the same feeling of gratitude and togetherness that Thanksgiving brings to me. Happy Thanksgiving from Italy.

(Don't miss the "We are Thankful" blog hop and my postcard giveaway - both are still going on! And I'm musing on "Down Low" over at Mortal Muses today. Come by and say hi if you have a chance.)

Down the Road

Travelling toward the end of the year, one month at a time. Welcome November!

I think fall might unofficially be over here, given the amount of rain that has been pouring down outside for the last two days. We changed from daylight savings time yesterday, here in Europe, and darkness comes early again. In our home, we are welcoming the winter with lighting more candles and snuggling up to watch movies.

I will miss these lovely leaves but am ready for the dormant period, the quiet time. As I read in Simple Abundance this morning, "November's beauty radiates from within."  Just like me. Just like you.

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I am musing on the energy of night over at Mortal Muses today. Come by and say hi!

Words for Breakfast

Yesterday, it rained. And rained and rained. I seem to recall that last week I wrote the words, "When life gives you rain, take photos anyway!" in more than one place. Well, here was my chance to live up to my words or to eat my words. I decided to live up to them, as words for breakfast don't sound too nutritious. My shoes were soaked and people might have thought I was crazy, but I had a big grin on my face and I managed to get this image for the "Fall Color" prompt in Picture Fall.

I realized with yesterday's rainy situation that this blog keeps me honest with myself, if nothing else. I mean, if I'm going to write about it here, it would be false to not follow my own advice. I think you would eventually see the truth of the matter, feel the hypocrisy come through, and abandon me to my own devices. I would be writing in my own little dream world.

Since I would rather be connecting with the real world, with real people, I'm going to have to assess myself honestly. Flaws and all. Thankfully, so far, I haven't had to eat any of my words for breakfast.

Present

Present - not as in gift, but as in being in the moment. How often are we really and truly present in our every day lives? Aware of the world around us, aware of ourselves. Not often enough, I would have to say, for me. And yet, when I am present, amazing things happen. I discover more about myself. I see the beauty around me. I see different ways to interact with others. It's as if the world opens up as a new and wonderful place to be.

So positive, and yet so hard. One of the things that I love about photography is that it ties you to the present moment. There is nothing beyond the image you see in front of you at the moment you press the shutter button. You can't be thinking of the photo you captured yesterday, or tomorrow, when you capture the one of today. When I first saw these seed pods, while looking for pretty leaves, I thought they were ugly. But then I went back, and studied them with my camera, and discovered their hidden beauty.

Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life."           -- Thick Nhat Hanh

To live life, see the beauty in life, we have to be present. A thought I will carry with me today.

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My friend Jenny, a life coach, asked me if I wanted to share my experience in Italy and how it's changed me with her readers. I'm writing a series of articles for her newsletter and blog, about how my time in Italy has helped me to find my passion and purpose, and how I think you can apply the lessons I've learned to your life. If you are interested in reading the first article, visit her blog at Rising Sun Coaching.

(By the way, does anyone know that type of tree this seed pod is from?)

Leaf Me Alone

A single leaf, the first colorful leaf of autumn, captured for Picture Fall. Most of the trees around here still have green leaves, firmly attached to their branches. The leaves that are on the ground are dead, brown, dull. This one little leaf was the exception - full of color and vibrancy and personality. A leaf ahead of its season.

I enjoyed photographing this one little leaf - capturing the light, the interesting shadows, the contrast of the lines of green moss in between the stones. You should have seen me, down on the ground on the path in the park. Brandon, who is now 9 years old, was quite embarrassed by my behavior. "Get up Mom," he said, "You look weird."

I find it ironic, that as I finally get to a place in my self that I don't care what other people think, that I'm willing to lay down on the pavement in public for the sake of my art, that my son starts to care. Apparently, we are changing seasons in more than one way around here. This single leaf, a harbinger of fall, also has brought the realization that the teen years are, eventually, on their way for my son. Life is nothing, if not interesting, that's for sure.

First Signs of Fall

The trees haven't started turning much yet in Italy, but in Paris they are already colorful. I liked this glimpse of Notre Dame through the leaves, and it was perfect for some experimentation with textures. I used two Kim Klassen textures in Photoshop Elements 8, "Cinnamon" texture with Overlay blending mode followed by "Break Free" texture with Soft Light blending mode. I liked how they really emphasized the changing leaves. The original is below for comparison. Which do you like best?

You can stop by the Kim Klassen Cafe to see more of her textures and sign up for her Texture Lovin' List for some freebies. It's fun to experiment!

If Not Now, When?

I love this field of flowers under the trees in Parco di Monza by our home here in Italy. They are long gone now, they are only around for a brief time in the spring. As fall approachs and these trees are about to change their color and lose their leaves, and the bed of flowers has become mown grass. I met my intention to photograph them this year, since I missed them the first spring we arrived in Italy. Who knows what next spring will bring, my last spring here. Maybe there will be freak weather that prevents them from blooming, and this will have been my only opportunity. I'm glad I caught them while I had the chance.

Capturing these flowers is part of what I am calling a "no regrets" year. With limited time left on my work assignment in Italy, we return to the US next July, I have made a personal resolution that I will go home with no regrets. I don't want to sit down, years from now and say, "I wish I had done... whatever... while we were in Italy." Sure, there will always be ideas I have later, places I will see in pictures later and wish I had visited while I was here, but this "no regrets" year is about what I know now. If there is something I want to do now, I am doing it. If there is someplace I want to go while I'm here in Europe, I am going. If there is someone I need to meet (all these wonderful online friends!), I'm going to make every possible effort to meet them in person.

So this weekend, part of my "no regrets" year, I have a special trip planned. Just me, my camera and Paris art museums. I've been wanting to go there and just revel in the amazing art that is available, all in one city. To just have a little bit of time, where I plot my course for a day or two, recharge and refill the creative well on my own. Along with that blissful plan, I'm doing a nighttime photo tour with a professional photographer - absolute, and total, heaven.

I know that the pace of travel and activity and spending (!) I currently have is not sustainable long term. In a way, that's the beauty of this situation too, it isn't long term. There is a definite end, so I don't have to keep anything in reserve. I also know that even with this intention I have for the year, I will not be able to go everywhere, do everything, meet everyone on my list. But I'll be so, so much closer to it, and I'll have no regrets.

I have actually been blessed by having this limited time, in a positive way. To have my eyes opened without having something like a life-threatening illness for me or a loved one. It is easy to see, how in the course of our ever day life, how we put things off. We say... We'll go visit that place next month, and it turns into next year. Let's get together for coffee sometime, and weeks go by. I should really look into that organization, and before you know it the event you were interested in is over. Life picks us up, swirls us around in the every day, and we lose our hold on the tether of our intentions. Before we know it, we're swept along and away from what we had planned.

Think about this in your every day life. Is there one small thing you want to do, one place to visit close by that you've been putting off, one friend you want to meet for coffee but haven't found the time? Do it. Have your own "no regrets" day or week, living in the moment as if you have limited time. Because the reality is, we do have limited time. It's just not always so obvious, as it is to me right now.

And who knows, you might just find that you have spring flowers to enjoy, come fall. 

Colorful and Crisp

It is a grey, cloudy, rainy day this morning and I just needed some thing with bright color to post! So here it is, a nice little fall market shot, from the market in Padua. Doesn't it just make you want to eat a crisp, juicy apple or pear?