Preparing...

We have lived in Austria for 2 1/2 years now and this Thanksgiving feels the most like previous Thanksgivings in America. Although we are missing our family, we have developed a sweet American community who we can share this tradition with! Our feast will actually be on Friday evening, as our kiddos have school, but the preparations have already begun.

Preparing the turkey...
Of course we are thankful for the ability to find turkeys in the bigger grocery stores (although they are smaller than in America, about 9 pounds was the biggest I could find)- still my oven is not too big, so I will be cooking one bird tomorrow and one on Friday. We will eat the one fresh out of the oven first and then if need be, will dive into the already carved one. This is my first attempt at brining.

I used my friend Heather's recipe of:
1 gallon of water
1 cup of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
10 cloves of garlic (I used about 6 instead)
black peppercorns
onion
thyme
and a few bay leaves

I pureed the herbs, onion and garlic with some water and then added the brown sugar, the salt and the rest of the water and poured it over my turkey. Because I don't have a lot of fridge space either, I put the bird in a small cooler and put it up on our terrace (lid closed) to hang out. We will see if this does the trick for a moist, delicious turkey! :)


Levi is preparing to look handsome with a fresh haircut...


And Milka is preparing to descend on all of the crumbs that make their way to the floor!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS!