Thanksgiving

Diego and I hosted Thanksgiving this year, here at our apartment. We ended up as a group of 21 people - from the US, India, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Puerto Rico. I prepared the basics: a turkey, stuffing, and gravy. I asked our guests to each bring their favorite thing. To that end, I also made garlic mashed potatoes (sorry Thomas, no rice), banana bread, sweet tea, and vegetable salad. The sweet tea didn't come out so good, and I decided not to even serve it. The banana bread was based on Grandma Smith's recipe. Except I used butter instead of shortening and baking powder instead of baking soda & cream of tartar (because I couldn't find the listed ingredients). Then, I cooked it in a convection microwave oven instead of a regular oven (because my gas cylinder was running very, very low, they wouldn't deliver a new one until Friday and I had to conserve enough gas to cook the turkey for 3+ hours). In the end, the banana bread turned out great. With so many substitutions though, I'm not sure I can call it Grandma Smith's anymore.

It was important to me to cook all of the things I was contributing (instead of having Shabina cook them on my behalf). For the most part, I was able to do that. At the last minute, I had Shabina come over to help me clean & chop the vegetables and keep me calm. And a good decision it was. Pauline was here, too, helping with Luis. Because of work schedules, people weren't coming over until 8p and we ate closer to 9:30. I definitely needed assistance getting Luis through his night-time routine.


Our feast was delicious. (Chef) Dave & Laura cooked the other turkey, tandoori style (Dave bought a tandoor oven), and they brought cranberry sauce and green bean casserole. Dave & Erika brought home-made challah bread. Bhavna & Sikander brought sweet potato and marshmallow casserole and a green bean dish. Jag brought two Indian-style vegetable dishes. Max brought homemade pasta (not by him) and pesto sauce as an Italian appetizer. The bachelors and hotel-dwellers brought a combination of beer, wine and the most decadent cakes I've seen.

Erika supplemented my six-plate collection with 18 of her own, giving us enough to feed everyone. Ditto on the silverware. Somehow, borrowing utensils and plates made it feel a bit more like Thanksgiving to me. People ate wherever they could find a spot - in the living room, at the small table (that is usually my desk in the small room, but looked more like a cafe table once put into the main room) or out on the balcony (it was cool & breezy outside).

Per tradition, almost everyone ate too much, holding their bellies and groaning when dessert was brought out. But I think almost everyone still managed to partake in dessert. It was great.

I had a great time hosting and meeting some new people. I loved the food (which, by the way, was all hot at the time we ate - except the challah bread). I liked having Thanksgiving in my house. But the best part of the evening was how much it felt like Thanksgiving at home - I guess that good food and a warm community goes a long way. Several other people made the same comment.

Victor & Alex stand next to the bar (with the "cafe table" in the background)








Erika & Dave, Nicholas & Michael in the living room








Max and John eat out on the balcony