I remember making my first turkey in Spain- I ordered it from the market a few days in advance. A French friend of mine picked it up and, to my disbelief, it was ALL there (head and all). I had only been in Spain a month or two and wasn't quite used to the freshness of the market. Needless to say, I made him do all the dirty work!
I'm glad everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving! We spent it with some Russian and American friends and yes, we had Spanish wine. I sent all of my Christmas packages to the states yesterday (it's Sat today) and I'm done!!!

[This message has been edited by nevado (edited 11-24-2000).]

Hi everyone, just got home from work and got right on the message board. Glad to hear everyone had a happy holiday.
I was at work at 630am, I work at Nordstrom as I won't start the teaching job till January. Let me tell you, the mall was PACKED!
I remember Thanksgiving in Spain in "89, couldn't find pavo so I went to the market and ordered a chicken...head, feet and all! Nevado's post made me recall it all over again!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

no, no madridman and rgf...i'm here with ya too. actually i have a nice four day weekend to enjoy. (sigh)my how i need it!! =)

thanksgiving was fairly low-key in my humble abode. a fairly cold, rainy day here in san francisco's bay area(these are the days when i miss being back home in san diego) seeing how i was doing the feast solo i decided to be a bit non-tradtional. made myself tortilla de patatas, picked up a bit of jamon serrano at the gourmet shop down the street, and had the last of my tio pepe that i brought back from madrid. i had also rented "abre los ojos" and "carne tremula." all in all, nice un-stressful holiday i must say. doing the same today. listening to music right now and just gazing out the window as the cold gray skies pass.

glad to see you all had an opportunity to be with a bit of family. that's always what makes the holiday. hahahahaha...ah madridman, i'm sorry you have to work today. surprised they made you do that.

hey madridman: that's great to hear about mama rosa. i had wondered how she was doing here. i'm glad to see she's found her little niche with the other latinas. good to see she's taking care of her daughter. now, now madridman...you needn't be worried about her gaining too much weight. mama rosa is just being a good mom. that's too bad they didn't have the chance to spend the holiday with you and your family. are she and your ladyfriend planning on visitng you before she heads home?

Hi, guys,

We had a quiet Thanksgiving at the grandparents' house. This is the first year I didn't break out the turron on Thanksgiving. In the 13 years we lived in Spain, we almost always celebrated Thanksgiving with a big meal the weekend after. As the years went by the turkey got easier to find, as the butchers realized there are a lot of Americans in Madrid who are willing to buy them around this time. (There are millions of them around at Christmas time.) In the western suburbs, where a lot of the American embassy/multinational company families live, the stores now offer a pretty big selection of turkeys in all sizes, even the huge ones that don't fit into Spanish ovens, but will fit into the American ovens some families actually take over. It's still best to order one ahead of time, though, because they really do sell out.

Eventually we made it a custom to invite Spanish friends over for the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. I'd make turkey, sweet potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, veggies, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and sometimes even mincemeat pie - all from sctratch, since cans of filling were not easy to find. Friends would come from all over Spain for the event, which they found fascinating. They had all heard about it, but this was a chance to really experience it. It was tons of fun. We'd finish with good Spanish fruit (clementinas, chirimoyas, pears, etc.) chocolates, and turron.

Ahhh, the good old days...

Kurt,

I hope you enjoyed watching my Longhorns yesterday!!

Yes I Did, Alejandro. But what's up with the Jersey kid at QB? How 'bout a Texas-Northwestern matchup in the Alamo Bowl?! Could be verrry interesting.

Hi all!
I took a break from this board cause I had a lot of work to do.
In my country, Romania, Thanksgiving is not even mentioned, but a few years ago they begun to celebrate Valentine's Day, although we have a similar tradition on 1st of March.
And one more thing: we are eating pork and all kind of food made from pork for the Christmas. In fact it's a tradition named "the killing of the pig" (it's cutting the pig more close to the real phrase) just before Xmas. I don't find it at all joyful, but it's actually a rural tradition and all kind of people are really looking forward to it.
I am always asking myself why are we the only nation who eats pork and not turkey on Xmas day?