How to celebrate Thanksgiving in Hannover

Thinking of Hannover as your Thanksgiving destination?

Ok, you weren't. But just in case, here is what you would need to celebrate Turkey Day in a place where no one cares about the Squanto or pumpkin pie.
Is your family overseas? Don't worry, you can make your own holiday with these ingredients.

A day off - Friday, that is. Brian and I will both be at home on Friday, getting ready for our weekend extravaganza. It includes: a small Thanksgiving dinner for 9 Friday night (we had 18 last year), football game Saturday and a party Saturday night. Plus, it doesn't feel like a holiday if you have to spend it with a class full of 4th graders.

Hokkaido squash - There's no Libby's in a can and no pie pumpkins here, but the Hokkaido is a worthy substitute. In English you call it Red Kuri squash, but I had never heard of that either.
Here they are cooking in my oven, after which I will scoop them out and end up with orange smears of Hokkaido on my clothes and somehow on the wall. It's worth it - pumpkin pie is an exotic treat here.

Real cranberries - Those also don't come in a can and pop out as a perfect ridged cylinder. But they do show up in the grocery store for a month or two each year, imported from the U.S.

Will power and disdain - to protect yourself from the lure of chocolate Santas and Christmas decorations that have been taunting you at the grocery store since early October. You need to tell your American self that it's not time for that yet. There is no progression of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas here. We just slide right from September into Santa Claus.

Gravy mix - I do most everything from scratch for Thanksgiving, but gravy is where I draw the line. It's the last thing I want to do when the turkey is out and the potatoes need mashing. You also cannot buy gravy mix in Germany, but I thought ahead and bought some while we were in Ireland.

A strong back - to carry the food, beer,  etc. up all the flights of stairs to our apartment. In preparation for our party, Brian and I have been going to the liquor store once a week and coming home with a case of beer each time. He holds one handle and I hold the other. Halfway home we set the case down and switch sides, then he carries it upstairs on his own. We make a good team.

Vegeta - Or to put it better, when don't you need Vegeta? It's an Eastern European blend of spices, vegetables and salt that is sort of like a bullion. You can put it in anything - rice, potatoes, meat, soup, casseroles - it will probably go in the stuffing this year. Maybe I should try making gravy with it.
 

A red or black shirt - If you want to play in Puten Bowl Zwei (Turkey bowl two).  It's an American flag football game played the day after Thanksgiving (or Thanksgiving observed). The original turkey bowl happened in Leawood, Kansas when Brian was in middle school, and it continued on and off for over a decade. The turkey bowl is always Pilgrims in black vs. Indians in red. When played in Germany, the North Americans get split up since they know how to play, and the Europeans and Australians are spread between the two teams. The game will likely attract the attention of locals walking by with their dogs, who, in their German way, will slow down and look but not stop to watch or ask what's going on.
Here are last year's players, post-game:

A (small) happy turkey - You can buy frozen turkeys here. They are stuck in the far back corner of the freezer section. But, in keeping with our sustainable meat policy, last year I bought a farm-fresh, local, organically fed turkey that once walked and was capable of reproduction. It was delicious. I ordered one again this year (by myself, in German, thank you) and I pick it up at the farmers' market today. I hope they remembered. If it's too big, it won't fit in the oven (look back at that pumpkin photo for an idea). But turkeys don't really come small. The smallest I could request was the runt at 5 kg (11lbs) but I have a feeling it might end up more like 6 or 7. We may have to chop off a leg or two to get it in the oven.

Turkey baster - Imported from the U.S. last year. Thanks, Mom!

An eclectic group of international friends - When your family is not around, it's a good alternative to spend Thanksgiving with friends. It also makes us Americans the ambassadors of Thanksgiving - no one compares my stuffing to their grandmother's, and no one judges me for making gravy from an envelope. Everyone is amazed by the sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

Four Lithuanian folk dancers - For Saturday night's party, we have invited about everyone we know. We even invited the neighbors again this year. My Polish friends Kaska and Charlotta are in a folk dancing group, and they have a big performance Saturday afternoon. When there is a big show to do and they don't have enough men (which is almost always), they call in the ringers from Lithuania. So we told the Polish girls to bring them to the party. These are four guys of Polish heritage who Charlotta met at a folk dancing camp years ago. I think they are going to play in the Puten Bowl also. Maybe later on in the party, we'll clear out the furniture and get them dancing.

Add a lot of gratitude and you have a real Thanksgiving - Hannover style. The Germans don't know what they are missing.