The Crane & The Cathedral
Monday, December 04, 2006
Birthday Birds
On Saturday we had a combined belated Thanksgiving/birthday dinner. Getting the 5.5 kilo turkey was quite a process as it's not so common to buy entire birds here, and especially if it's not Christmas. But after we determined that the bird would indeed fit in our small little oven we faced another challenge. Our oven has no temperature gauge. One would think that since it's common not to have temperature gauges here, that you would be able to walk into any hardware store or supermarket and find one. After my..."termometro para el horno" was met with five blank stares "what is this crazy foreigner talking about?" a few too many times, we considered our alternatives. Friends had offered the use of their more modern oven for "operación pavo" but we decided to try it here despite the risks. Four and a half hours later....voila!
Stuffing and mashed potatoes and apple pie and happy birthday in English, Spanish, Catalán, and Turkish were followed by a big singalong where Andrew premiered his rendition of Jarabe de Palo's "Flaca" which he had learned first from Juan in Boston, then from his teacher in Spanish class. I never would have expected that this group would have been singing Guns and Roses, but that's what seems to have made it to both Turkey and Catalonia. There is a video featuring highlights of the singing. My better half, however, has implored that this not be made public on the internet so you're going to have to email me if you want to see it!
And yes, I'm still a pescatarian:)
On Saturday we had a combined belated Thanksgiving/birthday dinner. Getting the 5.5 kilo turkey was quite a process as it's not so common to buy entire birds here, and especially if it's not Christmas. But after we determined that the bird would indeed fit in our small little oven we faced another challenge. Our oven has no temperature gauge. One would think that since it's common not to have temperature gauges here, that you would be able to walk into any hardware store or supermarket and find one. After my..."termometro para el horno" was met with five blank stares "what is this crazy foreigner talking about?" a few too many times, we considered our alternatives. Friends had offered the use of their more modern oven for "operación pavo" but we decided to try it here despite the risks. Four and a half hours later....voila!
Stuffing and mashed potatoes and apple pie and happy birthday in English, Spanish, Catalán, and Turkish were followed by a big singalong where Andrew premiered his rendition of Jarabe de Palo's "Flaca" which he had learned first from Juan in Boston, then from his teacher in Spanish class. I never would have expected that this group would have been singing Guns and Roses, but that's what seems to have made it to both Turkey and Catalonia. There is a video featuring highlights of the singing. My better half, however, has implored that this not be made public on the internet so you're going to have to email me if you want to see it!
And yes, I'm still a pescatarian:)
