de Laats Thanksgiving 2009

The table was set (by the chimney with care) - 2 days ahead of time... we ate all of our next meals at the coffee table.... but boy, do I love the opportunity to use all of those linens, china, silver and crystal we have!

Thanks Bas for the beautiful silver chargers, they really made the table!

And here are the beautiful serving pieces, just waiting for the feast on our sideboard...

We took a break from prep on Saturday night and went to the Erlangen Christmas market. Wasn't much to write home about, but Luna got to ride the carousel!

Here I am with the turkey. It turned out perfectly. It was about 10 pounds, and the perfect size, both for the oven, and the number of guests. But it was an experiment! Learned alot about German ovens and rack navigation! The top racks slide out with the oven door, so when we had to add the stuffing to the oven, we actually had to pull out the stuffing, and the top rack when we pulled the turkey out for its final removal....

My Mom made the apron for me, I love it, Luna has a matching one! P.S. Mom, you can't see it, but I'm also wearing a long skirt - another Thanksgiving tradition in the making...

Our guests... Zoe, my new beloved friend, her Mom Linda, Nan - Sylvia, and husband Manolis. Welsh on her side, Greek on his... we had a blast, played Apples to Apples after diner, everybody had fun!

Here is Zoe's pumpkin pie. It was absolutely fabulous. I have to get the recipe. She, nor anyone in her family had even, ever tasted pumpkin pie, but I requested that she bring it, b/c it's tradition, but it's usually not my favorite (I prefer apple) so she bent herself over backwards to make us a wonderful pumpkin pie, and I can't tell you howe much I liked it. It was totally from scratch, since you can't get canned pie filling here; and let me tell you, it was fabulous!

Linda and the babies....

Luna never did get a proper nap, so here she is camped out on the sofa with her trusty "bwanknent..."

And after her "nap" but still very tired... Thanks Oma for the necklace, I love it!