A Thanksgiving in Russia - As told by a second year-er.

(Jonathan and children watching "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving")

This morning I woke up right as everyone else was waking up, around 7:30 and made my way to the kitchen where I set out the bowls and spoons and cups and cereals for the boys who were ready to eat. I put some bacon in the oven and began making scrambled eggs and pouring the fresh-squeezed orange juice I had prepared the night before. The children enjoyed both breakfasts and then began doing their morning duties: cleaning off the table, getting dressed and brushing their teeth.

Jonathan began his Russian lesson at 9. Homeschool also started at 9 with the reading of a book about the very first Thanksgiving. After a snack, Nahum and Isaac continued with their schooling and I started making Cream Cheese Braid. Cream Cheese Braid is a light bread made from sour cream with cream cheese in it; a recipe that I inherited from Jonathan's Mom, and that we make every Christmas Season. Let me just say, it turned out perfect! I had my doubts since the flour here is a bit different and the cream cheese is actually a blend of sweetened cottage cheese and something else with vanilla. But, a little tweaking and wa-la! So I took some back to Jonathan and his teacher, who thanked me profusely. I try not to let her eat what I bake, because she always wants me to give her the recipe, translated in Russian, of course! Not the kind of homework I am looking for! After finishing homeschool for the morning and Russian lesson, we had lunch and shortly thereafter, Miriam and the Buds went down for a nap. I continued homeschooling and began putting together our Thanksgiving meal for the evening. Nahum and Isaac practiced their violins and then were allowed time on the computer, playing Star Wars, their most favorite game! Jonathan took Nahum and Isaac to their violin lesson and were back at 5 and we enjoyed our meal together.

This is what we had: cranberry sauce (The cranberries here are either mountain cranberries or red currants, I am not quite sure. But, they are smaller and very, very tart. Maybe next time, I will add more sugar), green beans (with bacon, of course), sweet potato souflee (Now, for some reason, sweet potatoes are unheard of here. Maybe it is because they have to be grown in a warm environment. Who knows? But, this makes finding them, well, impossible. So, since I LOVE sweet potato souflee, I had to find a substitute. My answer: pumpkin. So I made the recipe exactly as I would have with sweet potatoes, but I added pumpkin instead. It smelled exactly the same! I even added some marshmallows I had brought over from the States, But, it didn't taste the same. It tasted too pumkiny. So, I guess I will have to bring sweet potatoes next time and grow them on my balcony), sweet tea (decaf, from the States), macaroni and cheese (I found a very good white cheddar cheese I can buy here imported from Germany. It may not look the same as Mamaw's or Mimi's mac n chz, but it almost tastes as good), dressing (Ever since I got married, I choose to adopt the ways of Jonathan's family cooking. And they make dressing with cornbread. So I tried it last year, but it never turned out right. Everything here, from salt, to sugar, to cornmeal is more coarse than what we would buy in the States and it is not self-rising. So I brought some, of course! It turned out perfect since Russians love buttermilk and green onions, two of the ingredients that are so important to make dressing just right), and chicken (Yes, chicken. I would have to take out a loan to buy a turkey here, so we made due with chicken, and it turned out pretty darn good, too.) After eating, everybody watched "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving," which Jonathan had downloaded. Then we skyped with Jonathan's parents and the boys and little Kate were off to bed.

One of the highlights of the day was when Jonathan asked all the children what they were thankful for, while we were eating: Isaac said, "the cranberry sauce" (Isaac loves anything that is tart or sour), Nahum said, "family", Jesse didn't say anything (He was busy eating his mac n chz), and Jonas said, "the bathroom". Not sure why he is thankful for the bathroom, but Hey, we take way too many things for granted.

During naps, I was able to spend some wonderful time reading the Bible and drinking green tea. I read through some of the Psalms, like 103, and 100 and 98. These are all such wonderful Psalms of praise to Our Great God. Psalm 100:3 stuck out in my reading. "Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Sometimes I wonder at the plans God has for me, but this verse reassures me. He is God. How can this lump of clay argue with the Potter! "His loving kindness is everlasting!" (v. 5)

So, here I am, drinking white tea and eating cream cheese braid. All is quiet, because every child is asleep. Already thinking about tomorrow: Seminary Wives where Heather Klassen will be teaching from Ephesians and Friday Family Fun Night. I think we'll have chicken nuggets for supper tomorrow. Something easy for a change!