A Russian Thanksgiving
The internet is rife with bloggers' accounts of their turkeys and stuffings. You don't need me for that. Yes, my family had dinner. Yes, we made turkey (and it was transcendent, beyond-turkey wonderful), and two kinds of stuffing, and two kinds of cranberry sauce. Yes, there was an excess of food and lots of family and lots of fun. However, as I am sure you can judge from the photo above, Thanksgiving in my family tends to be a little different from the norm. How so? We drink. And I mean, we drink. Every once in a while we play true to type (Russians), and we drink vodka. And we enjoy it.
At the beginning of the evening, I ran to fetch something from the kitchen. Upon my return, I found that I had already been served - a slice of bread (home-made, naturally) and a shot of superb vodka (a brand that not imported into the States, straight from the ex-motherland. Not really my motherland per se, but I am sure it is someone's). I think my plate summed up a lot of things about me pretty well. Aaaah, my parents know me well.
P.S. We ran out of vodka half way through dinner (I may never let my father live this one down) and had to move on to Patron. My grandmother liked it! Lick, shoot, bite, the whole story. She was a champ.
11 comments:
Whoa, definitely the awesomest Thanksgiving post I've read! If I knew the Russian word for a toast, I'd throw it out here.
A chef I work with was throwing a dinner party and she was terrified because her friend rang her to ask if was okay to bring a guest.
It turned out that the guest(s) were friends of his Russian girlfriend. 4 friends it turns out.
She looked at me with terror in her eyes and said..."Have you ever dined with Russians? They drink. I don't mean they sip wine and polish off a bottle or two. i mean they drink! One shot clear vodka one shot red vodka. One shot after the other"
It was hilarious.
After the party she informed me not only did they arrive with two bottles of vodka, but continued to plow their way through her vast collection of aperitifs and 40 year old bottles of wine.
She said she had never seen anything like it - and they all left apparently, seemingly sober.
Oh, how could I forget? Two years ago when my sister was living in Durham she invited a bunch of international students to have Thanksgiving dinner with us. A young Russian couple were among the attendees. We sipped our wine in our usual fashion, which is to say very slowly. They must have been bored silly.
Wow, drunken (or drinking) Russians seems to be rather in vogue! Jo, your story is hilarious! Especially the walking out sober part. Classic! Feeling slightly embarrassed for my kind at the moment though - 40 year old wine is not meant to be plowed through!
Haha yay Anna! Didn't know you were such a big drinker - sounds like a funnnn time though :) Can I be in your family?
what a happy thanksgiving you had.
One time we were having pizza in a russian owned pizzaria(funny no?) and there was a huge family party going on. there was a bottle of vodka on every table.
Hillary - I am a big drinker only in the sense that I drink frequently. I don't drink much, but often. You are welcome to my family's table - just hope you can hold your liquor :)
Weddingptoject-US - Hi! That party sounds just about right. I have to say, this is the first I have heard of a Russian-owned pizza joint. Where was this?
Ok, really don't know why I capitalized the "us." Sorry.
you're not joking when you say, "we drink". i got toasted in the few hours i spent with you! :)
man! i want to be a part of your family... are they looking to adopt a 27 year old from across the country by any chance? :-P
Hi, Anna,
this remembers me of the RVC (Russian Vodka ceremony) before the BBQ after sunday soccer plays
http://czechfood.blogspot.com/2008/05/water-trade.html
my favorite drinks for na zdravi/kampai:
single malt whisky
calvados
palinka / slivovice
grappa
pacharan (a spanish wild red fruit)
japanese umeshu (plum) and quince liquer
Cheers!
Post a Comment