Sunday, November 27, 2016

A Paris Thanksgiving: Without The T

Shopping at Picard
We celebrated our Thanksgiving last night, two days late and without the T.

Don’t get me wrong, we gave Thanks and we had Turkey. But we did it without even a mention of the other T. You know, the name that has been on the lips of Americans these past few weeks. The day before, my daughter banned mention of U.S. president-elect from our household.

I also did Thanksgiving without another T, which I can’t seem to get enough of: Time.

So I did as the French do, I rose early on a Saturday morning and went to a store called Picard, which sells only frozen food—great frozen food. There’s no place like it in the U.S. I grabbed bags of turkey, broad beans, celery rave, rolls, and for dessert, the French version of apple pie: tarte tatin. Something else with a T that I can’t get enough of.

Thanksgiving chez moi
The turkey wasn’t a whole turkey, because in France that’s for Christmas. Instead I bought turkey pieces and made a fricassee, basically a stew. Ours was with mushrooms in a white wine sauce spiked with black current liqueur.

But because Time wasn’t on my husband’s side, as he decided to make stuffing from scratch, we’ll have that tonight, with leftover turkey stew on the side.

The only problem: we’re out of an essential ingredient for the stuffing. It also begins with a T. We are out of Thyme!





Rose Marie Burke, an editor and journalist, writes a blog about her personal insights into life in Paris. After 20 years in the City of Light, she still calls her native Pittsburgh "home." Want to follow this blog? Enter your email address into the “Follow me” box. Or find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+.

4 comments:

  1. We went out for Thanksgiving this year (there is a bbq restaurant chain in London that serves a Southern platter-style dinner), but I too have done a version of what you're talking about. Sainsbury's does small turkey breasts you can just throw in the oven. As for the stuffing I always make sure I have a box of stove top from Partridges in the cupboard for such emergencies!

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    1. I love Stove Top! I'll have to stock up the next time I'm in London. Thanks for the tip!

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  2. I LOVE Thanksgiving, but am not a purist about traditional foods. When a friend offered to make a lasagna dinner and bring it to my place how could I disappoint her? :-) We had a lovely day eating, drinking and overdosing on football. Unfortunately she brought "that" T with her!
    He didn't stay long and I am "truly thankful" that we were able to vigorously disagree and retain our "old friendship."

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    1. Its fun to hear how real Americans celebrate the day. I'm not a very traditional person, and mostly a vegetarian, but I do like my turkey and sides and pie on Thanksgiving!

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