Last week was a big week for us...Us being Americans. Thanksgiving week can be a crazy and frenetic time. It was especially so for us. The luxury of putting a holiday meal together when you are stateside is a relatively easy, if time consuming process. There is the actual meal to plan, necessary ingredients to obtain, the seating arrangements and so on. However, when you are in a foreign country that A. Does not celebrate the same holiday - let alone regularly eat the same foods, and B. You are planning the meal for several of your fellow Americans and their families, it it quite another thing. If you really want to spice things up, you add an American made full-sized gas stove - quite a luxury - that has been "adapted" and I'm using that term loosely to India's gas supply. But we'll get to that bit in a minute.
A friend and fellow FS (Foreign Service) spouse and I had volunteered to host way back in October. The prospect did not freak me out, I have fed a lot of people at once..a LOT of people. So things like dishes, cutlery, and serving bowls/platters are something that I drag around the planet. My friend was eager and willing to do whatever was necessary to make this dinner a success. We had already been told that previous holidays of this kind had relatively small turn-out (12-15), so do not be disappointed if you do not get much response...ha! The challenge came in the form that we had to get our order into the commissary (and trust me I'm grateful to even have a commissary) in New Delhi over a full month prior to really knowing who was actually coming. So we met, we postulated, we planned, we guessed...no really....and fingers crossed we placed our order.
Having done all of this before, I had the necessary formulas to figure out how much food to prepare for any number of guests (Thanks Eden Goldberger). The meal was planned for some hors d'oeuvers, veggies and dip, turkey, stuffing (likely both cornbread and regular) green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce, salads, mashed potatoes, gravy and of course...pies. I jokingly dubbed the whole effort "Operation Get Stuffed." Utilizing sticky notes (a favorite, ask my friends) I wrote out our battle plan and posted it on one of my cabinet fronts. But something strange was happening with my oven and it wasn't the usual "hot spots" than sometimes happen with ovens. It seemed like that temperatures were all over the board. So I called my brother in the states. He's a good egg. He works for a big-box merchandiser and grocery chain in Oregon and he agreed to get me an oven thermometer and put it in the mail right away. Right away you should know, translates into a minimum of 3 weeks to get here. So fingers crossed that it would arrive in time for me to figure out what was going on with my stove, plans proceeded.
Because a few of our community are vegetarian, I made use of the weekend before the event to make eggplant involtini. It is a great entertaining dish involving grilling eggplant steaks and stuffing them with a combination of bulgur wheat, pistachios, feta cheese, etc and covering them in a casserole with a terrific tomato sauce. I figured two large casseroles should more than cover my vegetarian guests with a bit left over in the event it appealed to anyone else. Just about the time I was ready to put them in the oven, the thermometer from Oregon arrived. As suspected my schizophrenic oven, was heating to almost 100 degree over what the setting indicated. This answered a lot of questions, but as you might imagine, set off even more alarm bells in my head...what in heaven's name would it do while I was trying to cook a turkey? A test run seemed like the only logical solution to such a problem - where a potential negative outcome would adversely affect 41 hungry people. Fortunately, I had just such an opportunity at my fingertips. Each year the Americans at the Consulate hold a pre-Thanksgiving celebration. It offers the locally employed staff a chance to sample some of the holiday foods. In India, however, as a large percentage of the staff are vegetarian it has mostly served as a pie party. We had decided in addition to the pies, we would cook a small turkey and those who are not vegetarian would have a chance to try it. So the day before our dinner would serve as a test run of sorts for the crazy oven. But I still needed somewhere for everyone to sit.
Now unless you are having a party where people will walk around with their beverages and perhaps small snack plates you do not really have to consider seating. A Thanksgiving meal with all of the trimmings requires tables, chairs, dinnerware, glasses, cutlery and napkins. Lucky for us, we are at a furnished post with a stellar GSO (General Services Officer - he's the guy who keeps the post functioning) and his facilities maintenance team. Once we figured out really how many people were attending, they swooped in with an additional two full-sized dining room tables and chairs. Now equipped with the requisite seating, meal preparation could begin in earnest.
Pies were made (Thanks for the pumpkin Joy, your shipment made it just in time), potatoes were mashed, eggs for deviled eggs were boiled, hummus was blended...and yes the test turkey, bravely going where no turkey had been before - into the depths of an oven whose temperature could not be relied upon. I'm a seasoned cook, I've worked in some pretty weird and far-fetched environments, but this was one of the quirkier ovens I've ever depended upon. Watching the temperature like a hawk, I employed a myriad of tactics from venting to intermittent cooling...that is when I discovered that I touched the temperature dial just a bit the temp would drop up to 75 degrees. If I adjusted it too much it would drop 125. Using a marker I made notation on the dial as to where I "should" remain for optimal cooking and crossed my fingers. Success! A beautifully browned and juicy turkey was cooked, wrapped, delivered and devoured by consulate staff. Now, if I could only repeat the process in spite of my temperamental appliance.
The day of the event was a blur. Friends pitched in to help cook and serve (you know who you are and thank you)! Everything turned out great. Even the oven cooperated - with a bit of cajoling and produced yet another beautiful turkey. My friend also produced a beautiful turkey which brought the number of turkeys for our meal to 2 - apparently her oven was not as temperamental. Despite having 7 surprise diners in addition to our 21 adults and 11 children, we managed to produce a Thanksgiving holiday meal that would have been the envy of anyone stateside. The most important ingredient for the whole event was the fact that we had successfully brought a big percentage of the community together...around one table. Away from the chaos and frenzy of the office, people broke bread, shared a meal and laughed - enjoying the simple luxury of one another's company around a table.
This career requires my husband and I to be thousands of miles away from our family and friends - something that is especially hard during the holidays. But as we looked around our table we were reminded that we are truly blessed - We saw friends. Individuals whom we respect and depend upon, especially while living abroad. People whose company we truly enjoy. And we realized that combined with our friends and family all around the world wealthy beyond measure.
To you all...we are blessed to know you, we are blessed to have you in our lives... And that...is the important thing.
And to my brother Stephen....Thanks! The thermometer was a lifesaver!
A friend and fellow FS (Foreign Service) spouse and I had volunteered to host way back in October. The prospect did not freak me out, I have fed a lot of people at once..a LOT of people. So things like dishes, cutlery, and serving bowls/platters are something that I drag around the planet. My friend was eager and willing to do whatever was necessary to make this dinner a success. We had already been told that previous holidays of this kind had relatively small turn-out (12-15), so do not be disappointed if you do not get much response...ha! The challenge came in the form that we had to get our order into the commissary (and trust me I'm grateful to even have a commissary) in New Delhi over a full month prior to really knowing who was actually coming. So we met, we postulated, we planned, we guessed...no really....and fingers crossed we placed our order.
Having done all of this before, I had the necessary formulas to figure out how much food to prepare for any number of guests (Thanks Eden Goldberger). The meal was planned for some hors d'oeuvers, veggies and dip, turkey, stuffing (likely both cornbread and regular) green beans, rolls, cranberry sauce, salads, mashed potatoes, gravy and of course...pies. I jokingly dubbed the whole effort "Operation Get Stuffed." Utilizing sticky notes (a favorite, ask my friends) I wrote out our battle plan and posted it on one of my cabinet fronts. But something strange was happening with my oven and it wasn't the usual "hot spots" than sometimes happen with ovens. It seemed like that temperatures were all over the board. So I called my brother in the states. He's a good egg. He works for a big-box merchandiser and grocery chain in Oregon and he agreed to get me an oven thermometer and put it in the mail right away. Right away you should know, translates into a minimum of 3 weeks to get here. So fingers crossed that it would arrive in time for me to figure out what was going on with my stove, plans proceeded.
Because a few of our community are vegetarian, I made use of the weekend before the event to make eggplant involtini. It is a great entertaining dish involving grilling eggplant steaks and stuffing them with a combination of bulgur wheat, pistachios, feta cheese, etc and covering them in a casserole with a terrific tomato sauce. I figured two large casseroles should more than cover my vegetarian guests with a bit left over in the event it appealed to anyone else. Just about the time I was ready to put them in the oven, the thermometer from Oregon arrived. As suspected my schizophrenic oven, was heating to almost 100 degree over what the setting indicated. This answered a lot of questions, but as you might imagine, set off even more alarm bells in my head...what in heaven's name would it do while I was trying to cook a turkey? A test run seemed like the only logical solution to such a problem - where a potential negative outcome would adversely affect 41 hungry people. Fortunately, I had just such an opportunity at my fingertips. Each year the Americans at the Consulate hold a pre-Thanksgiving celebration. It offers the locally employed staff a chance to sample some of the holiday foods. In India, however, as a large percentage of the staff are vegetarian it has mostly served as a pie party. We had decided in addition to the pies, we would cook a small turkey and those who are not vegetarian would have a chance to try it. So the day before our dinner would serve as a test run of sorts for the crazy oven. But I still needed somewhere for everyone to sit.
Now unless you are having a party where people will walk around with their beverages and perhaps small snack plates you do not really have to consider seating. A Thanksgiving meal with all of the trimmings requires tables, chairs, dinnerware, glasses, cutlery and napkins. Lucky for us, we are at a furnished post with a stellar GSO (General Services Officer - he's the guy who keeps the post functioning) and his facilities maintenance team. Once we figured out really how many people were attending, they swooped in with an additional two full-sized dining room tables and chairs. Now equipped with the requisite seating, meal preparation could begin in earnest.
Pies were made (Thanks for the pumpkin Joy, your shipment made it just in time), potatoes were mashed, eggs for deviled eggs were boiled, hummus was blended...and yes the test turkey, bravely going where no turkey had been before - into the depths of an oven whose temperature could not be relied upon. I'm a seasoned cook, I've worked in some pretty weird and far-fetched environments, but this was one of the quirkier ovens I've ever depended upon. Watching the temperature like a hawk, I employed a myriad of tactics from venting to intermittent cooling...that is when I discovered that I touched the temperature dial just a bit the temp would drop up to 75 degrees. If I adjusted it too much it would drop 125. Using a marker I made notation on the dial as to where I "should" remain for optimal cooking and crossed my fingers. Success! A beautifully browned and juicy turkey was cooked, wrapped, delivered and devoured by consulate staff. Now, if I could only repeat the process in spite of my temperamental appliance.
The day of the event was a blur. Friends pitched in to help cook and serve (you know who you are and thank you)! Everything turned out great. Even the oven cooperated - with a bit of cajoling and produced yet another beautiful turkey. My friend also produced a beautiful turkey which brought the number of turkeys for our meal to 2 - apparently her oven was not as temperamental. Despite having 7 surprise diners in addition to our 21 adults and 11 children, we managed to produce a Thanksgiving holiday meal that would have been the envy of anyone stateside. The most important ingredient for the whole event was the fact that we had successfully brought a big percentage of the community together...around one table. Away from the chaos and frenzy of the office, people broke bread, shared a meal and laughed - enjoying the simple luxury of one another's company around a table.
This career requires my husband and I to be thousands of miles away from our family and friends - something that is especially hard during the holidays. But as we looked around our table we were reminded that we are truly blessed - We saw friends. Individuals whom we respect and depend upon, especially while living abroad. People whose company we truly enjoy. And we realized that combined with our friends and family all around the world wealthy beyond measure.
To you all...we are blessed to know you, we are blessed to have you in our lives... And that...is the important thing.
And to my brother Stephen....Thanks! The thermometer was a lifesaver!
