Unity Day is a National holiday in Germany, commemorating the unification of East and West Germany in 1990. This year, Unity Day fell on a Sunday. In the 125+ year old Lutherkirche in Apolda, it was celebrated with a Thanksgiving service open to all. About 100 people attended, almost four times the regular Sunday attendance. Food offerings were laid in front of the alter, and collected after the service for the local food bank. Although the service was entirely in German, the Lutheran was so close to Catholicism that we were able to follow along. Plus, I can sing out of tune in ANY language!
After church, we ate a simple lunch with Birgit and Olaf (did I mention Birgit is an amazing cook!) and then it was time to get the turkey in the oven! I am not sure whose idea it was, but several weeks earlier it was decided to have a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner on Unity Day. Whole, roasted turkeys are not a common food in Germany. In fact, we saw very little turkey on menus or in the markets anywhere on our travels. Olaf ordered a turkey from a specialty market, and the rest of us assembled all the ingredients for a traditional American Thanksgiving meal. Kathrin and Andreas volunteered their kitchen and (three) ovens. Becca and Martin arrived early and made the stuffing. Fact: Stove Top Stuffing has not yet arrived in this part of Europe. The turkey was huge. Really, really big - over 25 pounds. Yikes!! But we managed to stuff it and dress it and get it in the oven at last!
Next comes my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Just hanging out. In America, there would be a football game on TV, and perhaps a pick-up game in the backyard. There was no football today in Apolda, so everyone was in the kitchen!
We even took an afternoon Coffee and Cake break out in the garden!
Finally, after checking the turkey and taking its temperature about a thousand times (would it EVER be cooked?!)...
It was dinner at last. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!!
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