Christgiving

This past weekend I went to Timişoara to celebrate the holiday season with Dan and other people in his life. We called our celebration "Christgiving," and we were bound and determined to do things the right way. We ended up with an American/Romanian/Turkish/Asian feast...

It really was an incredible weekend of friends and fun- we went and saw the new Harry Potter movie (eh...), played games, walked a lot in the rain, drank cappuccinos, and ATE.



The cookfest started when Dan and I went to the store and got nearly everything we needed, sans celery, ice cream, and… oh yeah… turkey. We returned back to his apartment and I got started with the cooking, while he ran to another store to try and find turkey. He returned with celery and ice cream, and set off again to find some turkey. He walked about 40 minutes to the biggest supermarket in town and found ONE turkey, but it weighed 7.5 kilograms, and totally would not have fit in his oven. He bought a chicken instead and some turkey cutlets.

While he was gone, I peeled potatoes, toasted bits of bread for stuffing, prepared the vegetables for the stuffing, made some chicken stock, made the gravy, made the glaze, made the stuffing, made the mashed potatoes, and got the green beans ready.

When Dan got back with the chicken, I was kind of sad because it looked so empty inside. Thanks to the lovely A~, we cooked it for about 30 minutes in salt water, while I made a mixture of rice, onions, paprika, and celery to stuff it with. A~ mixed up some tomato paste with garlic to spread over it, and then we used the cola glaze to pour it over the rest of the chicken. We put that into the oven, having NO idea how it would turn out.

I peeled and cut the apples for the apple crisp, and started to make it, spilling an ENTIRE bag of sugar in the process- it was a bit of a disaster, but kind of fun as well. We had that ready to put into the oven when the chicken was done, to cook during dinner.

While the chicken was cooking I grilled the turkey cutlets with some oil, paprika, and salt. They were delicious. I also cooked the corn and the green beans, and reheated the gravy, the stuffing, and the mashed potatoes.

It was GOOD.

Basically- we did this thing RIGHT, and had a really wonderful meal together. The first time I cooked an entire Thanksgiving feast nearly by myself, but... hey, it worked out pretty well.

Yum

There are many things I miss about the United States. I miss familarity and being comfortable with the language. I miss the ability to not be awkward every time I go somewhere new... or anytime, really. I miss walking down the street without getting stares from people, and I miss hearing English.

I even miss the CTA.

However, more than any one thing right now, I miss food. I've gone entire days without eating here, because I simply forget, and just lack excitement for the food I can make in my apartment. I have one pot, one skillet, and one baking pan. The oven is roughly the size of my toilet, and I am usually just too exhausted to try and decifer items at the grocery store.

I was talking with someone recently about some of the dinner parties I've had and cooked for, about recipes I like to make, and different foods I like to eat. This person cooks as well, and I am continually impressed... and jealous. Seriously, sometimes they'll be describing something and my mouth will literally begin to water. No, I'm not hungry for the soup in the cabinet or the pasta (again) or the chicken and rice and veggies. I'm hungry for what THEY are making. I want their steak and sasuage and potatoes and goulash and I even want their Hamburger Helper.

I would have a harder time with the whole part of these conversations if it were not for one thing: I'm coming home in December.

Perfect excuse for a list, I'm thinking.

Texas Roadhouse- just the buns
Taco Bell- I know... my stomach is going to explode after 4 months of abstinence
Chinese- mmm, egg drop soup and egg rolls and orange chicken
Thai- chicken pad thai, anyone?
Olive Garden- a shoutout to my dear C~
Subway- I can't help it...
Mancinos- ham and cheese grinder, yum
Meatloaf- courtsey of Theresa
Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce- again, Theresa
Jet's Pizza- 8 corner pepperoni
Chef Salad- lettuce, carrots, egg, ham, turkey, cheese, and 1000 Island Dressing
Vienna Beef Hot Dog- oooh buddy
Velveeta Shells and Cheese
B.L.T. Sandwich- I don't even care if it is Christmas
Veggies and French Onion Dip- Theresa :)
Chocolate Chip Cookies- baking day!
Scotcharoos- again... part of baking day
Puppy Chow- baking day again
Garretts Popcorn- there are no words, except to say Chicago Mix

Yeah, I know it probably isn't humanly possible to eat all of these things in the 9 days I'll be home. That is 27 meals. 9 of which are breakfast. But don't worry- I won't waste a thing.

Food

One of the obstacles I am running into with surprising frequency is eating. I don't yet have pots or pans (absolutely on the to-do list for tomorrow), and so my meals consist of whatever I can kind of manage to put together from my groceries, or Romanian street food. I am pretty poor, so I eat at home as much as I can. Nearly all the time, actually. However, sometimes my peanut butter and cornflake sandwiches get a little boring and I want to venture out. It really doesn't cost TOO much money, either- street food here is pretty cheap.

In particular, I am discussing a delectible item called shawormas or kebabs. I cannot fully describe the goodness of this food, perhaps simply because it is not a peanut butter and cornflake sandwich. A pita with meat from a spit (I go with the pui, or chicken), with sauce and lettuce and cabbage and tomatos and onions and usually pickles. They are AMAZING.

And so, friends, I find myself at the kebab/shaworma stand with enough regularity that this happened yesterday as I walked up:

"Kebab small for Step-an-ie? Hey America! Chee-ca-go!"

(I was then cajoled into giving him my number for what I can assume is private English lessons... something I probably won't do on the off-chance that he was asking how much I rent my body out for hourly. In which case, I WAY undersold myself.)

Yeah, I need to get some pots and pans tomorrow.