A few days ago, Bill asked me what I’d like him to cook for Thanksgiving. Since it’s just the two of us, we don’t often want to do a big Thanksgiving meal. It takes us forever to eat all of the food, and we lack both the storage facilities and large oven to cook a whole turkey.
Although Bill and I both like to cook, I thought about what cooking a large meal would entail, and I said, “Why don’t we just go out to eat?” Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday in Germany, so this was a perfectly reasonable suggestion. Bill agreed, and booked us a table at Die Scheuer, a restaurant in the nearby town of Hofheim am Taunus. We had eaten at this fabulous place just once before, because it’s often packed. After yesterday’s lunch, I can see why. The restaurant itself is fairly small and cozy, and the food and service are both very good.
Bill and I seemed to amuse an older German couple who sat near us and heard us speaking English. Who knows what they were thinking? But they were very friendly and polite, and wished us a good appetite as we enjoyed starters and main courses. I would have been up for dessert, but we were the last ones there at the end of the lunch service. They let out a couple of very sweet, friendly dogs while we finished our wine. And then we decided to just stop by the little Christmas food kiosk “village” near the Chinon Center (a mall where we usually park).
As for what we ate… I started with fried scallops with pumpkin puree. Bill had a spring roll made with goose. Then for our mains, I had Viennese fried chicken with homemade fries and lime Schmand. Bill had smoked duck with red cabbage and a dumpling. I was originally going to have the duck myself, but then I saw the chicken and decided it would probably please me more. I was right, although Bill loved the duck dish! I would have been pleased with it, too. Our wine was Kunstler Spätburgunder– pinot noir– which went very well with both dishes. The chicken was served extremely hot, and was moist and crispy. I found myself wishing I was better at frying chicken… but then, that’s a food I’d do well to eat less of.
It would have been nice to have had dessert, but at least we had beautiful weather, and it made walking to the temporary ice skating rink a real pleasure. We decided to share some red Glühwein (German mulled wine) while we watched people be festive.
After we got home, we decided to go down to the weekly market to see if there was any food there we wanted to buy. It was rather lightly populated yesterday, as there weren’t many vendors. But we did enjoy some wine and I got a photo of the Christmas tree they put up every year. I believe this weekend, there will also be a one night Advent Market. That’s always a fun event in Breckenheim. Christmas is always magical in Germany!
In spite of my gloomy feelings about the state of the world, I couldn’t help but enjoy Thanksgiving yesterday. It’s always a blessing to be with Bill. We had a very a peaceful, pleasant, lovely Thanksgiving. I hope we can visit Die Scheuer again. What a great restaurant! Next time, we’ll get there earlier.