Just before they left Dallas, A.J. threw a 10-pound sack of corn meal in the trunk of the car, with this explanation:“Europeans are ignorant of cornbread and I’m not about to give it up.” 

That meant they had the first ingredient for Southern style dressing.

They had 25 SMU students with them in Madrid, some of whom felt they needed to stay there and study for the final exams that would be coming up in a couple of weeks.  Another SMU prof and his wife who were there said, “We should give ourselves and the students a real Thanksgiving dinner.”

 Turkeys were unknown in Spanish cuisine, so finding one to cook was almost impossible.  Finally, in a department store that sold American goods, they found one turkey squashed in the bottom of a small freezer.  It was so bright yellow that its diet much have included multitudes of marigolds.

Another store had two cans of Franco-American turkey gravy.  The turkey was thawed and baked on Thanksgiving Day, with giblet gravy from the can.  A.J. Thomas made his own favorite brand of cornbread dressing, which included sausage (Spanish zoriso this time) as well as plenty of sage and garlic.  Ann cooked fresh asparagus with tiny artichokes (fresh from the nearby outdoor market), and her mother (who was in Spain with them) made a leek and potato casserole, which had already been tried out on the students, with favorable results.

Just down the street from their residence was a store called “Mary’s American Pies.”  They ordered two kinds, apple and pumpkin (knowing that squash would probably be the main ingredient in the second one).  Having already learned that Mary used unpitted cherries, they passed up this American favorite fruit pie.

With appetizer dishes of olives, celery stalks, and tiny pickled carrots, the two families were all set for a traditional (if somewhat modified) American Thanksgiving dinner.

The yellow turkey had been baked to perfection, and it turned out to be one of the tastiest turkeys ever.  One of the students ate so much that her swollen stomach was evident.  She explained, “I do not much care for the food served at my boarding house.”

With five students plus five other adults (and two children), there was very little food left over.  The students offered to do the dishes, but an electric dishwasher took care of that job.

Thus was a great American dinner and celebration accomplished in Madrid, Spain, where Thanksgiving is not even a holiday.  Have you ever taken part in one that was unusual?

By the way, I’m working on a column about small town life and need some stories.  I never lived in a small town, so help me out.

Jerry Lincecum is a retired English professor who now teaches classes for older adults who want to write their life stories.  He welcomes your reminiscences on any subject: jlincecum@me.com