After about a year (on-and-off) of living in Germany, I noticed one interesting peculiarity (as if there was just one):

People are supposed to throw their *OWN* birthday parties!

Now, where I’m from, all your friends take you out for your birthday – lunch, drinks, dinner, whatever ! It takes a week or two to get through all those meetings, so your birthday gets to drag blissfully on and on…

But, ‘when in Rome’….. so at the last minute I plotted to throw my own little bash. My objectives were: fun, easy & no cleanup. My original thought was “hey, let’s charter a boat on the Alster, serve champagne & little wursts, bring in an oompah band, everyone wears lederhosen, and then we have some fireworks!” Soenke quietly reminded me, that since I am not Donald Trump, I might not have a yacht party in my budget. Sigh. Why not???!!

SO I decided to host a small soiree at T.R.U.D.E., a cool restaurant on one of the Alster canals, with red brick & red paint interior, and a *non-smoking* section!! The food is excellent – especially the little homemade raviolis with ricotta & pear inside, served in gorgonzola sauce with baked plums. The word T.R.U.D.E. is an acronym that describes the drill that dug the first tunnel under the Elbe River in Hamburg. (One of the actual drills apparently sits outside the restaurant but I’ve never noticed it).

But I get ahead of myself. Soenke totally surprised me by waking me up with breakfast in bed, a homemade chocolate cake (!!) with 29 flaming candles (good choice, babe), and a beautiful little RED box from Christ (everyone’s favorite jewelry store in Hamburg). That’s all I will say about THAT – and YES it is a ring and NO it is not an engagement ring!

With such an auspicious start to my birthday, I decided to push my luck & suggested a shopping tour of the furnishings stores in the greater Hamburg area. Soenke bit his lip & agreed, so we took off for Dodenhof and Möbel Kraft (both well outside the city). They were both completely PACKED. But we managed to eek out a new dresser for the bedroom (currently we use an ironing board in that capacity), 2 lamps for our nightstands, and some overhead lighting. Another bonus, I got a great driving tour of cute German towns that I’ve never seen before.

Soenke suggested we stop for ice cream – “Eis” in German – on the way home. Germans LOVE their ice cream, & inhale it regardless of the temperature outside. Our local Eis Café was full, even though temperatures hovered around freezing. Whatever!

We returned home with just enough time for me to babe up, throw on my birthday crown, and head to T.R.U.D.E. A fabulous group of partyers joined us : Hauke, Antje, Sally, Lena, Klaudia, Mehmet, and Knut. They singlehandedly stocked my kitchen, my beauty regimen, and my movie schedule with delightful and thoughtful gifts. Danke, danke!

A big Thank You to everyone who sent me birthday wishes ! And a GIGANTIC thank you to Soenke for making my birthday very very special!!

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My breakfast birthday cake:

A cool, colorful carpet at Dodenhof:

Soenke got ice cream, NOT me ! :

Prego Sally joins me at T.R.U.D.E.:

Antje & Hauke show their long-lasting love:

I should have used the flash for eurobabes Lena & Klaudia! :

Eurodudes Knut & Mehmet sip the bubbly (ok, Mehmet is pretending to):

One of Germany’s finest inventions: the button-operated, automatic salt & pepper grinders!:

I love him !:

How do you say “I need a turkey roaster” in German? That was one of many questions I asked myself during the days prior to our American Thanksgiving in Hamburg. The turkey-roaster store helpfully pointed me in the direction of the local “Fleischmarkt” to order my whole “Truthahn” (turkey)… “Ja, Frau Crawford, how many kilos would you like?” Gulp, sounds like a drug deal! (in America the only things measured in ‘kilos’ are illegal drugs!). I hoped for the best in ordering 6 kilos - the butcherette was in good humor helping me with my apparently unconventional order – while I tried to avert my eyes from some of the more gross-looking German meat products sold there! The father-son owners at the local grocery store cheerfully accommodated me with specially-ordered fresh “Preiselbeeren” (cranberries) and extra-jumbo “Sußkartoffeln” (sweet potatoes). I worked two simultaneous calls on my cellphone plus one helpful shopper in trying to determine the closest thing to a gravy mix.

To round out our menu, Sally imported some Stove Top stuffing, turkey bags, and canned pumpkin in her luggage. Together we managed a typical feast of roasted turkey with all the trimmings: mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, cranberry sauce, stuffing, homemade Bisquick rolls, and a salad. Knut brought zee wine, Mehmet & Klaudia brought zee sodas, Soenke carried around the big bird for me, and the culinary chaos began!

Before dinner could be served, we of course needed a good Thanksgiving arts & crafts activity. How about whipping up some turkey hats…pilgrim hats… Indian hats, even?! Yup, I provided the colored paper, feathers, googly-eyes, scissors, and tape….. our fine guests provided their own Picasso instincts. The idea was first met with some dismay, but the spirit of competition soon took over, creativity blossomed, and each hat grew ever more complicated and wild. Malik won the Thanksgiving hat contest with a freestyle concoction that was something of a Peter-Pan-Meets-Squanto look. Antje (Soenke’s mom) came in a close second with her fire-engine red, I’m-A-Chanel-Pilgrim creation.

We adorned the huge dining table with autumn-themed tablecloths, an expandable paper accordion turkey (thanks Mom for sending!), turkey placecards…..but wait! NO turkey napkins! We made up for the omission with some colorful paper pilgrim & Indian pictures taped to the wall (again, thanks Mom), and shiny autumn leaf garlands on the staircase. My non-American guests observed the décor with no small amounts of amusement.

When everyone was finally seated at the table in their outlandish Thanksgiving headgear, Soenke’s dad began the turkey carving and I explained a little about the history of the American Thanksgiving. I observed that this was a holiday which everyone, everywhere could agree upon (everyone is thankful for something!), and hence it reigns as my favorite American holiday. I was reminded of our international turkey bash one year ago in Paris, another fabulous event and also the night of Soenke & my first kiss. This year, we had an international lineup yet once again…. 5 Germans, 1 Turkish-German, 1 Moroccan, and 2 Americans!

Following the dinner I presented the Thanksgiving Quiz: 10 tricky turkey questions … with English and Deutsch versions. Malik the Moroccan was victor yet again, with 8 correct answers (more than…ahem…our other American quiz-taker!).

This year’s pumpkin pie dessert, served with whipped cream and sprinkled nutmeg, met with FAR more enthusiastic response than last year in Paris (note: foreigners generally do NOT have the same nostalgic appreciation for pumpkin pie as Americans do…i.e., they think it’s WEIRD!). However, Sally’s apple crisp seemed to be the preferred post-dinner sweet!

Photos of the night follow:

Tom the Turkey & the butcherette:

Stuffing Herr Tom:

Headgear on, ready to eat!

Me with my Isaac Mizrahi design…..

The cleanup Pilgrims step in to help: