Turkey Day in Deutschland

My first Thanksgiving in Germany was a mix of the traditional Thanksgiving along with a few new things that might become tradition for me. The traditional part of course being that I ate way too much food and was really regreting my decision to try and look euro with my new skinny jeans tucked into my boots. Elastic waistband for me next year - dress sweats of course. Your last name has to be Hosler to get that one.

It was a little hard to get into the Thanksgiving groove. I wasn't around any family and there was no Macy's Day Parade coverage on German TV. I also spent the day shopping so it felt like just a regular day.

Jim was in Russia for Thanksgiving so luckily my only American friends here in Bonn invited me to their cross-cultural Thanksgiving dinner. The group was 1/2 American and 1/2 German so I was able to practice my German a little bit and share this truly American holiday of overindulgence with them.

We had our meal late because obviously no one had the day off. We had the usual turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, but my new favorite sweet potato dish with a twist was a sweet potato tart / pizza. We tried to convince the Germans that everyone has the traditional sweet potato pizza at their Thanksgiving, but I don't think they bought it. (Erin, if you are reading this, I need that recipe). We also had pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting instead of the traditional pumpkin pie. That was also a great new improvement on a Thanksgiving classic.

All in all it was a great first Thanksgiving in Germany. Next year I'll have to be the one who hosts Thanksgiving as our only American friends are moving back to the US next week. Sweet potato pizza and pumpkin cake are both going to be on the menu.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving wherever they may be!