thanksgiving!

So as you all know I kind of live in the middle of nowhere, this past week 2 peace corps staff came to my site to do the groundwork for the possibility of me getting another volunteer here in april which should be exciting. Anyways while we were waiting the one guy commented “we just kept driving and driving and I was like, she really lives out in the middle of nowhere!” the only time it bothers me is if I actually had a emergency situation. When I broke my foot last march I couldn’t tell if I was freaking out because I was hurt or because I lived so far away from legit medical care and the process of getting to a hospital isn’t exactly fun- but 9 times out of 10 I love living somewhere so far away from cities. It’s quiet and the stars are better then anyplace i've ever been before. But because I live so far out in the bled (country) no one ever visits which is really just a shame for the pcv community because I love hosting and cooking for people, and im a pretty decent cook . So… because I live so far away from everyone I laid the groundwork early for my favorite holiday ever… thanksgiving. I may or may not have told everyone and started planning the menu in june. Ooops. Let’s just say I had a lot of time on my hands this summer, and I wanted to make sure no one had an excuse for not making it to my house. So having more or less threatened everyone in june that they had to come to my house for thanksgiving November finally rolled around and thus my dreams were realized.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday ever. Let me tell you why, it’s like Christmas but without what I like to call the present pressure. Thanksgiving contains good food, good music, good people, good wine or beer (or in the case of morocco any wine or beer) and no other expectations…. No expectations except for full bellies and good company. When I was younger my family used to go to Chincoteague Island and rent a cottage and just hang out for 3 or so days. I loved it. We all sat around, hung out, drove around the nature preserve saw some awesome little ponies, cheated at board games and just enjoyed each other’s company (one year our dog had just recently had a litter of puppies so we brought all 10 tiny little guys with us! So much fun). My fondest family memories are often pulled up from the times we spent there, it’s also one of the few times my whole family got together at the same time. Over the years my uncle took charge of thanksgiving and as always there is a superfluous amount of food and really fun music. I wanted to carry the family tradition of over-doing it over here in morocco. And while we didn’t have as much left-overs as I was anticipating I think everyone was very satisfied and full.

I was really hoping to have an all-american sort of thanksgiving, a flash back to home. On my trip home in august i had funding, baggage and timing issues and didnt manage to bring back with me all the things i had originally intended. But i got really lucky and have 2 friends who have an American bank account and they generously got American commodities shipped over (ie cream of mushroom soup, stuffing mix, cranberry sauce, marshmallows and of course libby’s pumpkin pie mix) i feel so lucky that we all got to have such a taste of home. I was also really lucky that my host family generously let me borrow their propane gas oven, because my microwave size electric oven would not have accommodated our menu. The only weird thing about the dinner was that we didn’t succeed in obtaining a turkey, as a vegetarian I have no idea what kind of meat is available here in my site, so we made do with a full chicken, no one complained.

At times my kitchen felt a little small, but it was worth it to feel like my house was full, i think people enjoyed themselves and it was a really nice change from cooking alone in my kitchen and sharing my meal with episodes of the office and parks and rec. My lovely friends who got the stuff shipped for us (Lauren and Justin) came up a day early with their food cache and a bunch of stuff from their kitchen. i've never cooked so much food for so many people. realistically this was the biggest kitchen undertaking i've ever done and i think it turned out really well. everyone was full and happy and I barely had to do any of the dishes (which to be honest is my favorite thing about cooking for other people ).

I find I get a huge amount of emotional satisfaction from cooking and hosting for other people. To me food is the craft that everyone appreciates. I used to make home made presents for people all the time (ie bracelets, necklaces, crocheted things etc) and while i try and tailor gifts to the people i'm giving them to,  I can tell sometimes that I am handing someone something they will never use, it will sit on their dresser for a few years out of guilt and then they’ll either give it away or sell it at a tag sale or something. Food however, unless you have allergies or some kind of disorder is something that everyone appreciates. I love making something delicious and fun and then serving it to people. I have a dream of someday hosting dinner parties around an outdoor fire pit or something. Le sigh.

So in short thanksgiving was both wonderful and successful and I’m so proud of the hard work Lauren and I did cooking it. Huzzah.

In other non-food related news I’ve theoretically started at my youth center. Even with all the leg work and publicity I did in the weeks leading up to it I still had pitiful (read next to no) attendance. Just like last year I know patience and perseverance is key. I also have an ace in the hole with this new sports association who may or may not be doing some publicity for me to do another class later in the evening? I’m not 100% sure- meetings always have the possibility of mis-communication and lost in translation. But, I’m excited to have new work partners and a group of fun, motivated young men who like me and seem to have my back in a totally appropriate way.  Nothing else really exciting to report.

That’s all for now…. But! If any of you are like… wow… I haven’t seen or talked to michelle in so long,… or wow! It’s so close to Christmas I should send michelle a present because she’s so awesome my list is short. Yarn for crocheting stuff (more then 1 skein so as to ensure there is the possiblitiy of completing a project) anything pumpkin flavored, peanut butter,  mac and cheese, any kind of salty snack and if you’re feeling super fancy the stowaway backpack from llbean (in green). Wow. I sure do beg a lot on this blog… sorry guys. I hope you are all doing well and staying warm.

the lovely lauren working hard

our kitchen assistants! lucia and justin

first course of deviled eggs, home made bread, ranch dip and pumpkin soup with coconut milk 

thanksgiving dinner!  green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, onion gravy, veggie quiche, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and chicken! 

serving dinner

desert of pumpkin and apple pies

eating desert

so much delicious food!