Operation Thanksgiving A Success!

End result: Universally declared as delectable!

I'm pretty happy with the whole affair. The gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce were basically identical to what I remember from home. I take this as fairly miraculous since I made the stuffing from scratch minus a few key ingredients the recipe called for (who cares about poultry seasoning anyway?). I was afraid the gravy wouldn't happen until Ellen swooped in with her culinary expertise and whipped up something amazing with some spare spices and the scrawny turkey neck. And thank you, Dad, for the simple mashed potato recipe, a guaranteed hit in a potato-obsessed country.

The turkey had a good flavor, but appeared to be all dark meat. Huh. Maybe that's what happens when you buy a 10-lb bird? Or maybe I shouldn't expect a lot out of a turkey I found in a Danish Føtex, especially since (as many Danes reminded me today) turkey is native to North America, not Denmark.

The dinner rolls were tasty, but boring. No crescent rolls to be found in Denmark.

Finally, the pie. With such high hopes, it only turned out to be alright. My first slight issue was with separating the eggs. My arm was still tired from wrestling with pumpkins, so the first egg I tried to separate into whites and yolks splattered into a yellow & clear mess. Oops. Double oops since I had exactly the number of eggs the recipe required, so there was no room for error. Luckily it landed in one of my bowls, so I salvaged as much of the yoke as I could and then threw out the remaining bit. Time to try again. The five other eggs went smoothly, and I just figured one less egg white wouldn't cause the pie too much pain. My second slightly bigger issue was with beating the egg whites with sugar--the chiffon part of Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. I got careless and started adding the sugar before the eggs were light and fluffy. Not so bad, you say? Well, it turns out that adding the sugar too early turns the egg whites into a sort-of fluffy but mostly soupy goo. Still, the gooey "chiffon" still livened up the cooked pumpkin filling and I was feeling pretty optimistic. I didn't notice the other two issues until I cut into the pie to serve. It turns out that the gelatin we haphazardly picked in the supermarket was an utter failure. Each piece of pie flattened into an unattractive pile of brown gloop as soon as it was served. Secondly, the pie crust was an odd sort of pastry dough that looked normal but tasted slippery and flat. Hmm. But despite the unfortunate presentation, the filling tasted great!! My favorite feedback of the night: "This pie tastes like the essence of Christmas." If that's not a compliment, I don't know what is.

Overall, it was a wonderfully "hyggelig" (pleasant, cozy) evening. Our guests left in a contented state of fullness, all congratulating me on the great meal. Ellen even requested all my recipes, and Jimmi was inspired by the bread stuffing to alter his own stuffing recipe for the traditional Christmas lunch. Also, I happily understood a fair bit of the conversation in Danish, and that helped me feel more like a part of the family. So here goes: I'm thankful to have two families that will always be there for me, and more specifically, that have both aided me in my eternal quest to eat pumpkin chiffon pie. :D Happy Thanksgiving to you all!