Thanksgiving in Serbia Part 2
After figuring out the solution to the Turkey the next big step was finding the ingredients for my Mother’s stuffing. She had taught Tanja over the years how to make and we have since improved on the recipe adding more spices to liven it up and cook it a bit longer as my Mother’s was getting mushy, but it still reminded me of home and Thanksgiving and it was important. The two ingredients we thought would be an issue were celery and corn bread.
Though you often get corn bread muffins in the bread basket at restaurants so I figured there was a solution to that issue. The celery was the real problem it is primary flavor ingredients in the stuffing. You can’t find celery at the local markets so we were hoping you might find it in the large grocery stores. As luck would have it the closest store a few blocks away owned by a Greek company and items not found in most Serbian stores and there it was a perfect stalk of celery with lots of leaves which gives it the flavor.
My wife’s stuffing was perfect! I used the drippings from the turkey to start the gravy and with the bones from the cut up turkey I made home-made turkey broth. Mix in the four and stir and Voilà the perfect gravy.
The next issue was the pies. At first I thought about trying to make them myself but I had never been much of a baker in the classic sense. I am more of a grilled, typical American man. We figured there was no way to get an American apple and cherry pie in Belgrade. We had looked at Serbian alternatives and one day while bored I started to search the web and lo and behold I found The Baking Room Based on their web site they looked like perfect American pies. Made by a women married to a Serbian who had relocated to Belgrade five years pervious. They work out of their home but the ordering process was quite easy and they delivered a day before the party. We ended up getting six pies, three apple and three cherry.
The pies were perfect! They hit and American home run. Not only did they look amazing they tasted even better than they look. The delivery process went off with out a hitch and I could have not been more pleased.
Next time three parties come together.