Thanksgivings

In response to your question, Mom, the early Thanksgiving dinner was very good. We ate an early dinner, about 9:00 pm. There were 22 of us family and family friends at the table, eating wonderful Thanksgiving food and talking whenever our mouths weren't too full. Mashed potatoes, the biggest turkey you've ever seen (not kidding), gravy, stuffing with nuts in it, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole. Only things missing were Brenda's molasses cookies, lemon fluff, layered salad, and Margie's wonderful pumpkin pie. There was pumpkin pie, but it couldn't compare with Margie's pies. At the end of the dinner, we all placed our place tags in a bucket and drew to give thanks for the person who we received. That was a bit nerve wracking since I didn't know the person very well, but I wasn't the only person in that situation. It was a nice idea, though and created reflection on the meaning of the day.

Speaking of Thanksgiving and pies, my small group is having a Thanksgiving dinner tonight as well. Two Thanksgivings in one year! Neither with my family, but I try not to think about that. Yesterday I was a bit sad, realizing that all of my family was at Gary and Margie's together. Guess that means I love and miss them. But, today, there will be too much joy and celebration for melancholy. I have just finished making two pumpkin pies, completely from scratch. Completely. Let me tell you.

First, buy the pumpkins. Cook them in half with a huge knife, cook them in the microwave for 20 minutes each, scoop them out, puree them, and then add the spices. The spices were a bit tricky. I went to an Arab produce store in Lavapies to buy fresh ginger (which I then squashed the best I could). I bought whole dried cloves, since I couldn't find it in powder. Crushed that with the pestle and plate too. And 30 minutes ago, putting away the spices, I found powdered cloves. That was a little crushing. The mixing then with the other ingredients was easy. While I cooked the pumpkins, I made the crust too. I guess that wasn't that hard. I got to mix it with my hands, which was fun. The hardest part was cutting the pumpkins in half and crushing the cloves. And I didn't find out until after making it that you're only supposed to use the top part of the whole cloves. Hope the rest isn't poisonous or something, because I definitely crushed that as well. After I finished cutting, mixing, and mashing, I'm sure that anyone surveying the kitchen would swear that a hurricane had swept through the room. Now it's a little calmer, the multitude of dishes are washed, and the last pie is out of the oven, cooling on top of the stove. I stole an itsy bitsy piece out of the smaller pie...just to make sure it's edible. I dare say it is. It takes a lot of willpower not to steal more, but I remind myself that Thanksgiving dinner is waiting for me tonight, complete with turkey, so I should behave myself.

In other news, I have now seen the new James Bond movie. Pretty good, though I'm wondering what I missed that I would have caught in English. My curiosity isn't strong enough to go see it in English, though. I also met the new 5th grade English teacher at the school. He's young, studied in Ireland, and can cook American food better than the other auxiliar from the US (Erika) and me. How many 25 year old guys know what to do with fresh ginger or how to stuff a turkey for Thanksgiving...especially when turkey with stuffing isn't their tradition? Well, at least I know who to talk to now if I need to find something in Madrid or have a cooking doubt. With his skills, I'm sure that the other teachers at the school will have him married off faster than you can blink. Poor guy.