What are sweet potatoes?

I had the privilege of celebrating Thanksgiving twice this year.  Once with Benoit and four of our friends and a second time with Benoit's family.  Both celebrations left me with wonderful memories that I will never forget of my second Thanksgiving spent away from home.

I arrived at Benoit's parents' house early Saturday morning around 9:30am in order to help his mother prepare the Thanksgiving lunch.  Much to my surprise, I was astonished by the fact that Madame Roblin told me to come over around 9:30ish or whenever I was ready.  We would be preparing a lunch for 9 and were scheduled to eat around 1pm or thirteen hundred hours.  Maybe it's just the "French way," but I know that in my house, Thanksgiving preparations start well before 7am; so needless to say, I was praying with all my might that things would run smoothly and we would have everything in the oven on time.  For indeed I was feeling the pressure of being "grande chef" for the first time in my life while in France, home of some of the best cuisine.

Benoit wanted to sleep in and test out the new version of the video game, Call of Duty, that he recently bought.  I agreed and nodded my head unwilling for I always feel a bit uneasy arriving at The Roblin's "sans Benoit" (to use your phrase, Dad).  I was greeted at the door by Benoit's little sister Nélogwuen and she directed me into the kitchen where I saw Madame and Monsieur Roblin formally dressed in their aprons.

We started with the pumpkin pie.  Everyone was amazed by the number of "strange" spices were mixed in with the pumpkin.  Again, we had to make the pie from scratch, yes with a REAL pumpkin, because canned goods are rather limited here in France.  We ended up making enough filling for two pies and it was a good thing because everyone thought it was "DELICIEUSE!"

celery root/bulb

celery branches

Moving on to the subject of celery.  Whenever the French think of celery, they automatically think of the celery bulb itself and not the branches.  Luckily, Benoit had already explained to his mother beforehand that it was the branches that we need in order to make the stuffing and not the root itself.



Benoit's father was in charge of cutting up all of the vegetables for the stuffing and he himself was amazed by celery branches.  What surprised him even more were the sweet potatoes.  "They are so big and ORANGE!" he exclaimed while slicing and preparing them for the mashed sweet potato dish.  "Yes, I too am amazed by the color!" Madame Roblin commented.  "I was so lost in the supermarket the other day when I went to buy them.  I had no idea what a sweet potato even looked like!  I had to ask one of the workers to help me find it and when we did, I noticed the great big sign that said, "Comes from U.S.A.  I then knew I was buying the right thing."

Everything went rather smoothly except for the fact that we had to call Benoit and ask him to bring over his oven--yes, he had to detach his oven from the wall, put it in his car, and carry it to his parents' house--so that we could bake the pumpkin pies and the turkey at the same time in order to have them all ready for 1pm.  This is when I discovered that French ovens are not exactly fully equipped to cook a Thanksgiving turkey "american style."

Benoit's grandparents were invited to celebrate with us as well, and they were both very excited to have the opportunity to be a part of such a famous American holiday.  His grandmother admitted to me that she has been waiting weeks to taste the famous turkey and told all of her friends about such an occasion.

Although Americans usually do not host an "aperitif" before a meal, Benoit's father insisted on having one, accompanied by foie gras (duck liver made into a mousse and the luxury of all big occasions in France) with a sweet white wine.

Dad's coleslaw, Pittsburgh Perfect Stuffing, a 3.3 kg turkey (about 6.5 pounds), mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce (made with REAL cranberries and orange liqueur thanks to a French recipe I found to make American cranberry sauce with a French twist; which, I must admit, was absolutely amazing) a cheese course (also at the request of Benoit's father), and pumpkin pie with whipped cream.  Everyone RAVED about how delicious it was.  And no matter where one celebrates Thanksgiving, the after-meal nap is universal and very much essential; however, not exactly on the living room floor lol.

Dirty Dancing, Wonderful Men, and a Happy Thanksgiving

Bonjour tout le monde ! (Hello everyone!)

So I find that every since my return in France, life consists of late nights, early morning, and long days of WORK WORK WORK.  I have come to the conclusion that no matter how much passion you have for a particular subject, the work and the stress still manage to find you somehow, someway.  Perhaps it's just a quality of school in general.

In other news, I'm convinced that it's official.  Sophie, my strange and special landlord, has committed to having an actual boyfriend.   Now longer does she "entertain" in her room approximately three nights a week, but now entertains her "man-friend"  EVERY NIGHT.  The events are as follows:  André arrives at the apartment at 7:15 sharp, let's himself in with his OWN pair of keys, Sophie makes them both dinner, SILENCE, he leaves at 6:30am in the morning and loudly closes the door, I get up around 7:30am only to find a bottle of wine in the garbage can and his name bowl marked "André" dirtied in the sink.  (A thing about Name Bowls in the region of Brittany.  It is tradition that every member of the family have a small white and blue bowl with their name written on the outside.  These bowls are usually set out the night before so that when everyone eats breakfast in the early morning, everyone is sure to have their own bowl in which they can drink their tea, coffee, or cereal.)  André now has his own bowl.  This is huge.

Last Thursday night, Benoit Jego (the other Benoit) and I decided to spend the evening in Pornic with Benoit.  We had at first planned on going to the casino; however instead, we cooked turkey filets in a mushroom cream sauce accompanied by a bottle of strong red bordeaux wine, chocolate mousse, and the movie Dirty Dancing.  French men, I am convinced, are much more open to the fact that sometimes, chick flicks CAN be great movies to watch for both sexes!  I was quite amused while listening to their analysis of Patrick Swazy and 80's dress.

Benoit (my Benoit) continues to surprise me everyday by the manner in which he treats me.  With all of the stress of school, final exams, speaking French, and other things (yes, Mom I have to admit that I think about you everyday but that doesn't prohibit me from working hard in my school work, so don't worry!) I have the tendency, more often than not, to close myself off and be rather moody.  Okay, VERY moody.  And what is Benoit's reaction?  First he takes me strong in his arms, hugs me, makes up excuses to why I am acting this way (usually that I am under so much stress right now that my behavior is completely normal), asks if he can help in any way possible, and then comforts me in saying that everything is going to be ok.  Ummm....do we all have to cross the ocean to find a love like this? :)

Last Saturday evening, we celebrated the infamous American holiday of Thanksgiving!  Benoit and I spent all afternoon cooking and cleaning and exactly at 8:30pm sharp, our four other guests arrived.  We had champagne and Budweiser beer (a sort of oxymoron I know--but we wanted it to be Thanksgiving a little bit "à la français") with a veggie tray, homemade dipping sauce, pistachios, and pretzels for the aperatif and then around 9:30pm we sat down to dinner.  We served a savory pumpkin  mousse in a light cream sauce as an appetizer, a stuffed chicken (turkey season in France isn't until Decembre and ironically, their Christmas meat is a whole turkey) with Namestka stuffing and mashed sweet potatoes, and finally my Mom's famous apple and pecan pie for dessert!  Everyone said that it was absolutely delicious, however, they had never had such a big/consistant meal in their lives!

Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving in France:

We had to keep the Namestka tradition alive.

Left to Right: Benoit, Anne-Laure, Romain, Priscille, Benoit, and me 

This time, we all did our best impression of a "stuffed turkey"

American cuisine, French wine, German hard alcohol, and great times were had by all!  Everyone cannot wait for next year! :)

Luckily, Benoit and I don't have to wait until next year to celebrate.  This Saturday, we are having Thanksgiving lunch at Benoit's parents house.  I swear the French are just FASCINATED by the fact and how we celebrate such a tradition.  I am going over to Benoit's parents house early in the morning Saturday to help his mom cook, this time, à l'américaine!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!  I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL.  HAVE SOME TURKEY, 7-LAYER SALAD, CARAMELIZED SWEET POTATOES, COLESLAW, MASHED POTATOES, PUMPKIN PIE, NUT ROLL, STUFFED CABBAGE, and DEVILED EGGS for me! :)

Sometimes (more often than not) I wish the Atlantic Ocean was a little bit smaller...

"So what did you do over fall break?" was the question of the day.  How do you explain using a simple sentence that you went back home to the United States (a country that 80% of French people will never see in their lifetime) and to do the best you could to take care of your sick mommy while suffering from incredible jet lag?  You explain it to some; however, to other you just nod, smiling, and simply say, "Je n'ai pas fais grandes choses." (Oh you know, I didn't really do much).

Benoit had told me Friday night that almost all of the candle space in front of the statue of Mary in Saint Donation's Church was completely filled.  I am not surprised.  Most of my friends and their families attended this church and are also aware that my little mommy is not exactly up to par.  So just so you know again, Mom, there are many candles and prays dedicated to you here in France.

I pose another question, one a bit more lighter than the first.  "Why do French people sometimes seem to feel so entitled?"  It's not such a bad trait to have, even though it often has a negative connotation.  For example, on the plane ride back to France, there was a French man who asked for 3 complimentary beverages with his dinner, an extra dessert, two apple streudels in the morning, and succeeded at stuffing one blanket in his bag with another one around his neck, acting as a scarf!  Now, to me at first I was a bit offended; however, if you think about it, you are paying over $1,000 for the flight so why not milk it for all you can?  I don't know.  I am still up in the air about the concept of having the right to "free things" on an airplane.

Bonjour Maman! I am going back to France because both you and I know that is where I belong; however, I could have used a couple more days (or better yet weeks) with you!  I miss you and love you!

Good news.  I have my first ever business lunch with my future boss on Friday, November 18th.  And it was HIM that asked me to have lunch!  Any thoughts on what I should wear??

Bad news.  First day back in Angers and I was greeted by smelly, barking dogs, my landlord in her lovely pajamas, and NO electricity (i.e. no heat, no internet, no light, no nothing).  Luckily, by the time I came back from class around 7pm, everything was back to normal, including the smelly, barking dogs. 

Hello, smelly,  annoying, oh my goodness sometimes I wish I had a very large heavy object, YOU!  I missed you!