A Bird Procured

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm gearing up for our Thanksgiving Over Here - that's on Thanksgiving Saturday - and comparing turkey roasting notes online.

Getting a turkey wasn't so simple this year, but I did manage to find one. And it's no sorry little bird, either. It's 17-pound organic turkey! I started my turkey search this week. It was supposed to begin on Monday, but I only remembered that the butcher is closed on Monday afternoons when I was standing right in front of the store. I was a little dismayed, since Monday is a bit of a roll of the dice on the turkey search. I thought I'd try Edeka.

I went to the butcher counter at Edeka and asked if I could place an order. "Sure, sure." I told them what I wanted, and they looked at me like I'd asked for six pounds of unicorn meat, preferably with the horn still on. Thanksgiving just hasn't caught on here. Or so I thought.

Still, I'd never had problems with the butcher in town before, so I went right away on Tuesday morning. While they did not have a turkey, they had a turkey contact, and made a phone call while I waited in front of the counter. And it was a no. No turkeys, anywhere.

Then, I remembered the 'Bauernweiberl' - that's the woman who runs a farm outside of Bernau; we affectionately refer to her as the Little Farm Woman. Mom and Dad, you've been to the farm - that's where we went on the carriage ride and one of the kids (forgot which!) sang that goofy little song the whole time. She didn't have a turkey, either! But she did have a turkey connection. And this time, it panned out. When I made my bird inquiry, I hadn't mentioned occasion or anything. But when I picked up the turkey after my morning class, she said to me, "Für Thanksgiving, gell?" And I was very impressed.

So not only do we have a turkey, we have a turkey big enough for two Thanksgivings! And tomorrow, I'll get up and roast the turkey, and celebrate with my favorite fellow Americans over here. And I'm sure one or two family Thanksgiving stories will come up in the course of the evening... In that way, you are a part of my celebration, too. I hope that you've all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to mine, and I'll be thinking of you!

Love, Mara