Thanksgiving

... is my favorite American holiday, and one I sorely missed this year. To combat the homesickness, I decided to host a small Thanksgiving dinner this past Sunday for us, my Swedish father-in-law and his friend. 

I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner only once before, during my second year of college with a group of transplanted students. It was a potluck and my roommate, Laurie, and I had only to prepare the turkey and gravy (my pre-vegetarian days). Both of which were delicious and edible due to the intervention of friend Jeannie, who stuffed the turkey (ewww) and de-lumpified the gravy.

Since then I've always been lucky enough to be invited to Thanksgiving dinners. So this Sunday was a fun challenge, and I have renewed appreciation for all you Thanksgiving chefs. I started the food preparation at 7pm the night before and was pretty much in the kitchen until 6pm dinnertime on Sunday. But it was overall enjoyable, and Roger was a great sous-chef and fountain of optimism as I fretted about the ...

tofurkey. Yep, in trying to find a vegetarian entree to replace the Thanksgiving turkey I came across a homemade tofu turkey recipe that was to be a great replacement for the store-bought Tofurkey I usually bring home. This recipe is basically seasoned tofu, compressed and wrapped around bread stuffing. Although time-intensive, the dish wasn't so complicated. 

But each step of the way as the tofu made its transformation, my doubts grew about the palatability factor...

But have to say, the meal and coziness of the evening was a success. Everyone, myself included, enjoyed the diverse and complimentary flavors - savory, sugary, tangy and an all-pervasive butteriness. I mixed in a little Swedish tradition with the substitution of lingonberry jam for cranberry sauce, and a traditional applecake with vanilla sauce for pumpkin pie (the latter is not one of my favorites). 

Afterwards we were all full and awash in that warm glow of Thanksgiving contentment and cheer. Lisbeth said she enjoyed her first Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful for that. 

Our homemade tofu turkey ready for the oven.
I was fairly skeptical at this point.

The final outcome, an hour plus and several
bastings later. It looked ... odd, and I was
having misgivings about putting the
meat-eaters through this.

Proper presentation and nice garnishes
helped boost my confidence.

And in the end, the dinner actually turned out great - 
tofu turkey included. Compliments all around, from
 Swedes and Americans alike!

With Ruby as the exception, who ate only the tofu
and lingonberry jam and politely refused all else.
Picky, picky, picky ... and annoying.

Svensk äppelkaka: this baby has apples, cinnamon,
cardamon, almond paste and 1/2 pound of butter!

Höst/Autumn

As if on cue, autumn creeped up on Skåne beginning in late September, and within a few weeks the weather was that much more blustery, gray and wet. 

I've pretty much lived my life in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a few Southern California interludes. Now here in Sweden and experiencing this different clime, I've been captivated by the dramatic seasonal change - the softening of the light (the sun is traveling pretty low now), the glorious colors in the foilage, and the noticeable chill in the air.

For Ruby - she was particularly enthused about jumping into and running willy-nilly in the mounds of crisp, yellowing leaves that the wind piled up around Staffanstorp.

Ruby in her grandfather's garden. On this particular day, Ruby and I
ran back and forth through the house to confirm that on one side it
was raining, and on the other side - not raining! Then we got
completely distracted by the appearance of the double rainbow.