Saturday, November 26, 2011

Pavo Paseo y Dia de Gracias - Friday November, 25, 2011:

                This week was chock full of classes, including two double days. We focused on the fundamental rights of companies and the boondoggle of international tax law, all in pursuit of learning about contracts and the law applicable to them. Despite the heavy load, being the good little ex-pats we currently are, the most important part of this past week was Thanksgiving. Jenny graciously offered to host our celebration and so on Thursday, six Americans, a Brazilian, a Brit and an Irish gathered round to give thanks. For being so far from home, we did pretty well. Neal found turkey at Corte Ingles, the biggest grocery store near us; Kristen made stuffing; Jessica made corn bread sans cornmeal; and Jenny made stuffed mushrooms. Alan searched and searched for pumpkin or pumpkin pie, but ended up bringing a delicious cheesecake.
                Personally, I had decided Thanksgiving wasn't Thanksgiving unless there was cranberry sauce. This was an ambitious decision because cranberries are rare here. I was hoping Corte Ingles would have canned cranberry sauce. No such luck, but I did find dried cranberries at a small fruteria. As I was buying them, the little old lady in line behind me asked what they were. "Arandanos rojos", I replied - which literally translates to red blueberries, the word in Spanish for cranberry. She still seemed very confused, and asked to try one. They were sold in bulk, so I let her. She continued to look puzzled after she tried it, but finally shrugged her shoulders and thanked me. I took another visit back to Corte Ingles and found fresh cranberries in the exotic foods section. They were imported from the USofA and cost 4 euros - an exorbitant amount for the teeny container they came in. Nonetheless, I bought one package figuring they could only enhance the dried ones I was planning to reconstitute. So on Thanksgiving day, I played in my kitchen, optimistically soaking the dried cranberries and guestimating metric amounts. In the end, my cranberry sauce was delicious and Thanksgiving safely carried on. Though, I did miss cutting apart the can shape to serve myself.






Frank Gehry themed wine from La Rioja and soon to be delicious stuffed mushrooms.

Prepping in Jenny's kitchen. This is my "Happy Thanksgiving!!!" face.
Chatting before dinner.

I believe that here Jess is indoctrinat--I mean, educating the foreigners on Thanksgiving.
Success!! and by that I mean yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Chowing down.
The whole group.

                I'm also happy to say that my personal turkey trot tradition also carried on, infused with a Spanish twist. Early Thanksgiving morning, Jenny and I went hiking in the beautiful hills surrounding Bilbao, which were unfortunately fogged in that day. But, the "Pavo Paseo" was altogether successful and we ended it at our favorite bakery sharing a brownie and cafe con leche. And although I missed my family and friends at home, it really was a happy Dia de Gracias.


A foggy Thanksgiving day in the hills around Bilbao.

But a lovely Thanksgiving day nonetheless.

Jenny and I "Pavo Paseo-ing" our bums off.

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