Steps to celebrating Thanksgiving in Romania

1. Contact "your guy" to get you a Turkey. Guy brings Turkey to your basement and ties its leg to his workbench. Briana names the Turkey Suzie. Brandi teaches Briana about sacrifices

2. Hold open Turkey's beak and pour rum down its throat. Let Turkey swallow, sway and stumble. Reapeat until Turkey falls over and passes out. Take Turkey outside and chop off its head. Drain blood and excess rum from out of the neck

4. Dip turkey in boliing water and pluck all its feathers off. Singe the bird over and open flame. Rub


with cornmeal to keep from smelling. Clean out the innards and feed to the cat. Stuff the bird and cook.

6. Bake enough desserts to enjoy with the entire Romanian staff at your workplace. This includes pumpkin pie (see earlier blog entry), Irish Cream Cheesecake, Jello salad, Snickers "salad", whipped cream, apple pie, mint brownies, etc.

5. Purchase fresh vegetables from the farmers market down the road. Explain to the man in Romanian why you need 7 pounds of carrots. For foods that cannot be found here (cranberries) find sufficent substitutes- be creative! Cook and mash vegetables all by hand.


6. Set the table with dried leaves and rose hip sprigs, and place settings colored by Briana.


7. Enjoy the main meal together. Take a walk into the foothills behind your house. Come back for dessert. Explain to Romanian guests why we show our thankfulness by eating fatty foods until we are ill.

8. Pack up leftovers and repeat steps 6 &7 again the next day.

9. Call you family and tell them you had one of the best Thanksgivings of your life.