Thanksgiving German Style

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American family and friends.

This Thanksgiving was just a little bit different from those in the past. David got up and went to work and the kids got up and went to school. Rebecca and I set the table and got dinner going. I had picked up all the fixings at the commissary last month and was excited to have familiar foods for this truly American holiday.

Our dinner table was not overflowing with abundance, but the meal was absolutely delicious. We had roasted turkey breast, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls and cranberry sauce.

Dessert was more of a problem. I had planned on making apple crisp and pumpkin roll yesterday, but forgot to translate my shopping list before I got to the store. I bought a frozen apple tart instead. After dinner, David translated the directions on the box for me and I had not understood "Thaw for 6 hours in the refrigerator beforehand." The kids were more than happy to make do with Magnum ice cream bars.

Books

So, I have already re-read, some for the umpteenth time, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I needed to take a break from Miss Austen and Mrs. Rowling (no offense, ladies).

The good thing about having lots of time is that you get things accomplished that you never thought you would get around to. I'm reading those books that have been sitting on my shelf for years. I swear if we weren't here, I probably never would have made the time to dust them off.

To Kill a Mockingbird is just one such book. Somehow, I had gotten through high school and college without having read this book. I had seen the film a few years ago, which took away a little from the suspense and mystery of the plot, but what a great read all the same.

Other books on my list include Beloved and Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl. Frankfurt was, after all, Anne's hometown. Back in the 1980s, I visited the house where she and her family hid in Amsterdam and it was one of the most memorable places I visited in all of Europe. And yet, I have never read her diary.

David is doing the same thing and has been making headway through Shelby Foote's trilogy The Civil War: A Narrative.