That one time I made a Turkey.

Let me set the scene: Thanksgiving in Paris. Thursdays during school were loooooong, with a 6 hour structures class and prep for studio reviews that happened every Friday morning at 9 AM. Yikes! So anyways, our actual Thanksgiving was a bit... anticlimactic.  My Thanksgiving dinner was a turkey sub from Subway (JUDGE ME IT'S FINE. But it's the best cheap late night option, and I was celebrating 'Merica).

Due to our schedule, we decided to postpone our Thanksgiving until the following Saturday. We are such responsible students. 

3 things before we get going:

1. We = everyone in my program. Shout out to my people - love you guys!

2. You are about to see too many pictures of me for one post. I apologize in advance.

3. I realize this is several months late. December got crazy (hence the hiatus), then January got crazy (hence the extended hiatus). This post is one I promised for my family, and I need to keep my promises!

Fast forward to Friday. After studio, I raced to the butcher and picked up that beautiful bird you see above. (FYI If you want to buy a turkey in Paris, call a boucherie a few days in advance and order it) 

The turkey and I took the metro together! BFF status. Until I cooked it and ate it.

On Saturday we all split up into different kitchens in our dorm and started making our contributions. Here I am showing my friend Ben how to properly make a turkey. (PS. Note the power is on. This becomes important later.)

 Just butter that baby up and lather it in brown sugar. Yea!

We also made a few other things for the feast. Ben made pumpkin pie (OMG). 

 My little Jess making creamed corn!!

Using our legitimate carving utensils. PS I KNOW THE TURKEY IS UPSIDE DOWN. I look away for one second and look what Ben does! People, I tell ya.

Okay so this is where the story gets good (and why I'm drawing this out a little too much). About halfway through cooking the turkey, THE POWER WENT OUT. And when I say the power went out, I mean like, it was on the fritz throughout the dorm. So the other kitchens were experiencing the same issues. And there were 12 of us who needed the ovens, not counting all the other residents. What followed was a lot of juggling, moving half cooked dishes around, and... I don't know, a miracle? It was crazy. But everything turned out! (Note = No power in this picture! We are checking the damage from the outage - luckily there was none!)

Our kitchen's power eventually came back, and thank goodness because it allowed Aubrey to finish her rolls and stir the gravy like the pro she is! You go girl!

I strongly believe that every party needs a yummy app and beverage to start. Our guests brought wine and I made a couple appetizers loaded with fall flavors. I cannot find the recipes for the life of me! I will post them once they are located. The one above was a crostini with apples and chevre, while the other was sliced and roasted sweet potatoes topped with a little chevre (I love chevre what can I say)/cranberry/celery number. The sweet potatoes acted as the crostini and I felt so clever (for finding it on google).

Check out that succulent turkey just waiting to be devoured. Gates BBQ sauce also made an appearance. You haven't truly lived until you've had Gates. My KC people know what I'm talking about! And now I miss barbecue. :(

The most important person in the room is ready for her close up. Haha, so obnoxious. 

We had a great group! There were about 13 of us from our program, along with some wonderful friends we've made since we've been here. 

THAT pie.

I know we all missed being with our loved ones at home, but this Thanksgiving ended up being a pretty fabulous alternative. Cheers!

XO L 

PS Photo credit to Jesse for all the pictures! Thank you!!