ArOuNDtH3WorLd...

Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, turkey, turkey, stuffing and did I mention turkey?…all of these things are not common in good ol Euro land and organizing a Thanksgiving dinner can be quite challenging, but in the end 100 percent worth it!

For many years now Cory has organized a Thanksgiving feast for his American clients that are near by. I’ve only been to 2 but I have to say this year HAD to be the best :)

Cory was having problems finding turkeys, and after asking around he found a turkey farm a few miles outside of town where him and Andreja, his wife, went out and the farmer handed him 2 WHOLE turkeys, necks and all, in trash bags, that had been killed that morning. Unreal. The chef at the hotel that we were hosting the dinner at was responsible for the rest, and oh what a job he did. The turkey was mouth watering DE-licious in every way possible.

The dinner was being hosted on Sunday and the Americans started to come in on Saturday. We began the cooking preparations Saturday by making pies and cutting bread for the stuffing. 

Pies is where it got tricky. There are no pie tins in Slovenia, or any other surrounding country for that matter. Usually Cory goes back to the states every year in October and brings the necessary means but this year his trip won’t be until December so we had to make due. 

We started with foil trays and tried to shape them into the shape of a pie tin but that didn’t work out so well and then we used deep foil dishes that worked out perfectly. The canned pumpkin had to be searched out in a store in Vienna and one of the girls brought 6 cans of it.

After making one batch of the pumpkin pie mix (and holding off on trying not to eat all of the batter it was so good), Cory was making the second batch and all of a sudden there was silence from him. He realized that instead of using 1 cup and a half of sugar, he used salt. One small taste of that and you want to run your mouth under water for 5 minutes straight haha

He was so upset! We only had limited amounts of canned pumpkin and he just poured salt in to half of it. The poor guy was not happy. 

But no need to worry, he woke up in the middle of the night and searched how to make pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin and the next morning recovered very nicely. I was super impressed. So we had a variety of pumpkin pies to choose from, but at the end of the day we are never going to let him live this one down :)

All in all there were 15 Americans that were able to make it to the dinner from Trieste, Split, Linz, Graz, Klagenfurt and Bratislava. Such a great group and what a treat to be able to spend one of my favorite holidays across the big blue pond! 

This year I am thankful for all of the amazing people in my life all over the world! Volleyball has given me a great opportunity to meet and make relationships with a ton of amazing people. As much as I am enjoying learning and experiencing all of the new and different cultures around the world, you have to hold on to your roots and Thanksgiving is one that I cherish the most. Nothing will ever compare to my Grandmother’s mashed potatoes and a table stacked with 30 plus family members, but being able to have just a little bit of this special holiday 5,000 miles away from home, words cannot describe. 

I am thankful for my loving and supportive family, the indescribable friendships I have made and for everyone who has made me in to the person I am today!

Happy Thanksgiving! xoxo