14th Annual Czechsgiving

Saturday was the 14th annual Czechsgiving fiesta.  It's hard to believe that this was #14.  It's going to be even harder to wrap my head around next year when it's #15. 

This year's turkey was 10,5 kg (23 lbs).  I usually get up around 4am to prep the bird and put it in the oven.  

This time, I prepped the turkey on Friday night so that Saturday morning I just had to put it in the oven.  I have to admit that the extra hour of sleep was nice.  I'll, for sure, do it again next year too.

Tünde was a great little sous-chef.  She made a few of the casseroles on her own.  With just a wee bit of supervision.

I swear that that sooner, rather than later, the kids are going to outnumber the adults.

Meeting the Lads

Kája and I are still at the stage of introducing each other to our friends.  Last night was a night out with the lads and so I brought Kája to meet Martin, Martin, and Vilém.  The lads had been asking when they were going to meet him so I figured it was needed to happen sooner or later.  This way they don't all meet for the first time at Thanksgiving.  All went well so that's good. 

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm already gathering supplies for the fiesta.  The Candy Store made a delivery last week and an Amazon order I had delivered to Claudia in Berlin was dropped off yesterday.

I don't know why but there are many sellers on Amazon that will not deliver to Czech Republic.  I think some people still have a perception that Czechland is further east than it really is.  While some shops won't deliver to Brno they will deliver to Berlin.  So sometimes I have things delivered to Claudia's place.  Then I either pick them up there or she brings them when she comes to visit.  Fortunately, Ale visited her last week so she brought me my last order.

I don't know what's going on right now but I can't find Bisquick anywhere.  I've checked Amazon Germany, Amazon UK, and Amazon U.S.  It's no where to be found.  Hopefully I can find it soon or I'm going to have to wing it somehow.

13th Annual Czechsgiving

Yesterday was the 13th annual Brno Czechsgiving fiesta.  It was so good to see everyone.

I was happy with the turkey.  I tried a slightly different recipe this year.  Thanks Gordon Ramsay!

We had so much food but that's normal for Thanksgiving.  Fortunately I had my little sous-chef who helped me last night night with some of the casseroles.    

It still amazes me how much this event has changed from the very first one 13 years ago.  Pretty soon all of the kids will outnumber the adults.  

Way too much food and a flat full of people.  

This is the Thanksgiving that I missed last year due to the Covid restrictions and the state of emergency.

Pre-Czechsgiving Preparations

Well it's going to be a white Thanksgiving tomorrow because today we had our first snow. I'm really forward to tomorrow's 13th annual Czechsgiving.  Especially since last year's dinner was done over Skype.

I picked up the turkey today.  This year's bird is 11,4 kg (25 lbs).  With this turkey, and everything else, we're going to have enough food to feed an army.  Which sounds about right because I'm expecting around 40 people through the day tomorrow.

Claudia and Tünde arrived from Friedrichshagen late this evening but I quickly put them both to work in the kitchen.  Claudia made her pumpkin soup which will slowly simmer overnight and Tünde became my little sous-chef helping me prep casseroles.

I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow.  But now I need to try to get some sleep.  Tomorrow will be a long day and I need to get up in about five hours to prep the turkey and get it in the oven.

12th Annual Czechsgiving

The 12th annual Brno Czechsgiving was much smaller than in previous years.  Certainly smaller than last year's fiesta.  Due to COVID-19 and the new state of emergency it just wasn't meant to be this year.

The smallest Turkey ever

On the bright side the cooking didn't take as long.  Last year's bird was 11 kg (24 lbs) while this year I just ordered a turkey breast that was only 600 g (1,3 lb) since it was just going to be for me. Yet I still ended up with leftovers.

Claudia ordered food from a restaurant in Friedrichshagen and her parents come over for dinner.  We then got on Skype and had a virtual Thanksgiving.  

Basically like one of the recent virtual pub nights but with dinner.

It was nice to keep the tradition alive but I did miss all of the madness that goes along with a flat full of people all getting together to celebrate the holiday.  Hopefully we can all get together again next year. 

I have a feeling that it's going be a virtual Christmas as well this year.

11th Annual Czechsgiving

It's hard to believe that last year was the 10th Czechsgiving here in Brno.  It's even harder to believe that today was the 11th.  It's a lot of work cooking for three days but it's always worth it.

This year's turkey was 11 kg (24 lb).

With Tünde being a little older this year she wanted to help cook so I had a sous-chef.  

It was another very successful event and everyone had a good time.  Way too much food but that's the name of the game.

It was great to get everyone together.  Now I've got plenty of leftovers so I won't have to cook for week.  

Thanksgiving Supplies Delivery

Today I received some supplies for next week's Thanksgiving.  

I can't believe that it will be my 11th Thanksgiving here in Brno.

The Candy Store offers free delivery in Brno for orders over 500 Kč (~$22). The only catch is that you have to pay in cash on delivery.

10th Annual Czechsgiving

Well the 10th annual Thanksgiving party was a success!  But after 10 years in Brno it's pretty much officially Czechsgiving.  It's still hard to believe that this was the 10th.  Way different from the first one in 2009.

It was a bit of a tight squeeze but the turkey did fit in the oven.

Claudia had a special commemorative shirt printed for me to mark the occasion that had all of the group photos from the previous nine years.  I love it!

It's a lot of work putting this thing on but it's worth it.  But it's not me alone.  I have a bit of help.

Tünde prepping marshmallows 

Tünde loves to prep the marshmallows for the sweet potatoes and her job every year is to make the deviled eggs.

Lots of good food and time with friends.  It doesn't get much better than this.  And with leftovers it means that I don't have to cook for a bloody week.

Got the Bird

I picked up the turkey this evening for Saturday's Czechsgiving fiesta.  This beast is 13,4 kg (29.5 lb) and I hope that it fits in the oven.  This is the biggest bird I've gotten since I moved in to my new flat.

It's hard to believe that this will be the 10th Thanksgiving that I've hosted here in Brno.  The event has become way bigger than that first one back in 2009.  At this rate it won't be long before the kids will outnumber the adults.

Thanksgiving in Hong Kong

Next week is the 10th annual Brno Czechsgiving fiesta but today is Thanksgiving.


So tonight's Hong Kong Thanksgiving dinner was pork noodle soup and bubble tea.  Not a traditional Thanksgiving dinner but tasty nonetheless. 

9th Annual Czechsgiving

Saturday was the 9th annual Thanksgiving party.  I can't believe that this was my 9th Czechsgiving here in Brno.

What I really can't believe is that next year will be a decade of Brno Thanksgivings.

This years's turkey was 8,5 kg (19 lbs).

Every year the party gets a wee bit larger.  Of course it could just be that the kids all all getting bigger.  I almost need a new hallway just for the coats and shoes.

This year Vilém brought his guitar and the Czech songs were a big hit with the kids (and the adults).

8th Annual Thanksgiving

Saturday was my 8th annual Thanksgiving party.  Eight years!  Wow!  After all this time it really is Czechsgiving now.





As soon as Agile24 was over on Friday I immediately went to pick up the turkey.  This year's turkey was 11,6 Kg (25.6 lbs).

Tünde helping make dinner.

Then it was straight to the kitchen to start prepping for Saturday.  Fortunately after seven years I've got it down to a bit of a system.  The only difference was that this was the first year in my new flat and I did miss a bit of the counter space I had in the old flat.







The other thing is that this year I wanted to pull it off without any care packages from home.

Again, more kids this year.  We even made a little kids play area and at night they enjoyed their very own kinder disco.

Here's a short video that Vilém made.

7th Annual Czechsgiving

Yesterday was our 7th annual Thanksgiving celebration.  After all these years it's about time to just call it Czechsgiving.  Hard to believe that it's been seven years since our first Thanksgiving here in Brno.

Tünde helping make devil's eggs 

I surprised everyone when I announced that this would be my last Thanksgiving here.  Actually most were shocked but then relieved when they found out that it is just the last one here in my flat.

It was a great time getting to enjoy the day with everyone.  The guest list seems to increase each year as we have more and more kids joining us.

Here's a short video that Vilém made.

My 1st Czech Black Friday

Today was another first.  After six years here I didn't think I would still be having "firsts" but here we are.  I experienced my first Czech "Black Friday".

In the USA, Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November.  The day after is called Black Friday. It's not a real holiday.  It is considered the start of the Christmas shopping season.  Most of the major retailers open very early and offer crazy promotional sales.  It's not unheard of for people to get in line in front of the store the night before so as to get in the store first.  Personally, I'm not a fan and have never gone Black Friday shopping.

Well today was my first but to be honest it wasn't intentional.  Tomorrow is "Czechsgiving" so Claudia and I went to Tesco at Královo Pole for groceries.  I also wanted to pick up Tünde's Christmas present.  It looks like Santa is going to bring her a keyboard and microphone this year.  It makes noise so I'm sure she'll love it.

I could not believe the line of people inside the store to buy electronics.  It was insane.  This Black Friday nonsense is definitely something that I hope doesn't really catch on over here. 

Czechsgiving

So yesterday was the 6th annual Brno Thanksgiving celebration.  After six years I think it's time to start calling it "Czechsgiving".  

Uncle Chris babysitting so parents can eat

But what a difference six years makes.  It used to be that after the party many of us would check out the Christmas market before ending up in a pub or nightclub.  


Now Thanksgiving looks more like a day care center.  This year we had five kids, and one is on the way for next year. 

Turkey and pumpkin soup

Unlike previous years, there was no adventure when it came to getting the turkey.  This year Tomáš one of the birds from his farm.  It made things so much easier.  

Besides the turkey, ham, and pumpkin soup, we had all of the traditional side dishes such as cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, glazed carrots, cornbread muffins, cranberry sauce, corn casserole, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes with marshmallow, green bean casserole, broccoli and rice casserole, deviled eggs, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and red velvet cake.

Of course, much of this would be very difficult to pull off if it weren't for the very generous care packages I get from home.  Thanks Mom & Dad!  Thanks Steven & Michal!  At some point I really do need to covert all of my recipes to metric.  It would keep me from having to look at my temperature cheat sheet all of the time.  It would also make it much easier when people here ask for specific recipes.

Another successful Thanksgiving/Czechsgiving celebration.  Of course it's not complete without the group photo.