Thanksgiving abroad was an interesting experience. Christy had some friends come in from Indiana for the week, so Mauro and Loriana invited them to Thanksgiving dinner. It turns out there was five of them, two of us, and Mauro and Loriana. If you have been to the Biliotti’s house (mom, dad, and Rach) you know this house is not outfitted for this many people. AKA it’s an apartment (above Gucci…just s
ayin…) in Italy. So, we set up extra tables and there were people EVERYWHERE! But, in that way it seemed more like my family’s Thankgivings. We started cooking the second I got out of class about 3:00 and didn’t stop until all the food was on the table about 8:00 (early for dinner by Italian standards. They usually eat at 9-ish…) So, Mauro and Loriana put us in charge of cooking them an authentic American Thanksgiving dinner, and that we did! Neither one of us had ever cooked a turkey before and everyone that we talked to gave us different instructions for cooking it (who knew there were so many different ways to cook a turkey?!) So, we kind of mashed everyone’s directions together and made it up as we went along. We cut slits in the skin and put butter in to keep it moist, then we covered it in olive oil and rosemary. It ended up pretty good. It was a little dry because we cooked the crap out of it because they didn’t have a meat thermometer and we were worried about it being too undercooked. But, it looked pretty and the juices made a darn good gravy. I would like to point out that we even made gravy…points for us? So, we had the giant turkey, which Mauro kept calling an ostrich because it was freaking huge!! (5 Kg to be exact…) And then we prepared mashed potatoes, my grandma’s stuffing recipe (which was a giant hit!! Loriana had like seven helpings of it!), buttermilk b
iscuits, and corn on the cob. Then for desert, Loriana made the best tiramisu EVER! And Christy made a darn good apple crisp, but it was most definitely shown up by Lori. So, it was really cool to be able to share this American holiday with friends and with my Italian family. We have had turkey in every form since that day…turkey loaf, turkey meatballs, turkey ribolitta…it never stops!! But, the holiday was the best I could ask for being abroad! And, now we get to listen to Christmas music and enjoy all the Christmas decorations that started after Halloween here! Plus, the guy who sits outside playing Christmas music on his flute (which is apparently called a flautist…who knew?!) is finally actually playing for the right season considering we can hear him from our window and he has been playing Christmas music since we got here…in August…
Thanksgiving abroad was an interesting experience. Christy had some friends come in from Indiana for the week, so Mauro and Loriana invited them to Thanksgiving dinner. It turns out there was five of them, two of us, and Mauro and Loriana. If you have been to the Biliotti’s house (mom, dad, and Rach) you know this house is not outfitted for this many people. AKA it’s an apartment (above Gucci…just sayin…) in Italy. So, we set up extra tables and there were people EVERYWHERE! But, in that way it seemed more like my family’s Thankgivings. We started cooking the second I got out of class about 3:00 and didn’t stop until all the food was on the table about 8:00 (early for dinner by Italian standards. They usually eat at 9-ish…) So, Mauro and Loriana put us in charge of cooking them an authentic American Thanksgiving dinner, and that we did! Neither one of us had ever cooked a turkey before and everyone that we talked to gave us different instructions for cooking it (who knew there were so many different ways to cook a turkey?!) So, we kind of mashed everyone’s directions together and made it up as we went along. We cut slits in the skin and put butter in to keep it moist, then we covered it in olive oil and rosemary. It ended up pretty good. It was a little dry because we cooked the crap out of it because they didn’t have a meat thermometer and we were worried about it being too undercooked. But, it looked pretty and the juices made a darn good gravy. I would like to point out that we even made gravy…points for us? So, we had the giant turkey, which Mauro kept calling an ostrich because it was freaking huge!! (5 Kg to be exact…) And then we prepared mashed potatoes, my grandma’s stuffing recipe (which was a giant hit!! Loriana had like seven helpings of it!), buttermilk b
iscuits, and corn on the cob. Then for desert, Loriana made the best tiramisu EVER! And Christy made a darn good apple crisp, but it was most definitely shown up by Lori. So, it was really cool to be able to share this American holiday with friends and with my Italian family. We have had turkey in every form since that day…turkey loaf, turkey meatballs, turkey ribolitta…it never stops!! But, the holiday was the best I could ask for being abroad! And, now we get to listen to Christmas music and enjoy all the Christmas decorations that started after Halloween here! Plus, the guy who sits outside playing Christmas music on his flute (which is apparently called a flautist…who knew?!) is finally actually playing for the right season considering we can hear him from our window and he has been playing Christmas music since we got here…in August…
1 comment:
haha...flautist meg, really?! glad you're learning about things that apply to american culture as well ;)
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