Parthemores in Poland

Feeling quite Dickensian, I wanted to cook a goose for Christmas this year.  Our local butcher shop, which is awesome, proudly displays on their window all the “interesting” meats they have, beyond the usual pork and sausage.  I walked in there and successfully communicated my desire to order a goose and when I wanted to pick it up.  I even inquired about how big it would be.  The butcher told me (and this is an exact quote, translated), “about 2 kilos, a small goose.”  I was quite proud of myself.

So you can imagine my shock when I go to pick up my goose and they bring out a 7 kilo beast.  That’s 15 ½ lbs, folks! 

If we haven’t mentioned it before, all the appliances here are smaller than their US counterparts.  We have one friend who refers to things as the “Barbie” version, which isn’t too far off.

This goose required the purchase of a new roasting pan and fit in the oven with less than one inch to spare.  The bird itself was crammed into the roasting pan like a fat guy in a bathtub. 

All of this was for three people…

Despite the tight fit, the goose turned out great, with plenty of leftovers!

During our last-minute Tesco run to buy this roasting pan, we stood in line with plenty of people picking up their karp żywy for Wigilia.  Continuing our fascination with this tradition, we gawked as people retrieved carp from the tanks, put them in a plastic bag, and then let them die in their shopping cart.  We saw one couple buy two carp that flopped themselves to death in their cart while their young daughter watched indifferently from the shopping cart’s child seat.  Evidently, there is an animal rights movement to ensure people bring buckets for carp transport. 

Our last post talked about the bone-chillingly cold weather.  We expected a white Christmas, but two days ago it started raining.  Today brought blue skies and mild temperatures.  Good news if Santa brought you a bike, bad news if you got a sled. 

So to all our family, friends, and the other random people who stumble onto this blog, Merry Christmas and Wesołych Świąt!