When we arrived to Malaysia in August, we had a potluck to meet all our supervisors for our placements. Casually we had already mentioned to Laura earlier that week how fun it would be to cook Thanksgiving for her and her husband, the Bishop, for when we would be feeling homesick. However, as things usually go here, a comment turned into an idea, and at the potluck Laura invited all the supervisors to our Thanksgiving festival that we would be hosting for them in November.
Needless to say, I was worried.
Worried because...
1) We have never cooked Thanksgiving before.
2) The people here don't normally like sweet or bland food. American food is both.
3) That is a LOT of people.
4) If the other volunteers cook like me, we are in trouble.
After much scheming and discussing, we began to slowly pan out a plan for this "festival." Doria and Michael graciously offered their house to host the celebration of over forty people. Jacob could perform his trumpet (performances are a vital component of any celebration. clearly.). We could all make our favorite recipes.
So the next obstacle was the recipes! Our first problem came quite quickly; ovens aren't really a common kitchen tool in this hot, tropical country. Luckily, one of Katherine's teachers is in Sarawak for the month, and lent us her portable oven! I plan on using this as much as possible in the next month. Wheat bread and Christmas cookies, anyone?
The second obstacle was ingredients. Overall though, we did fairly well. My favorite substitution had to be a real pumpkin (think jack-o-lantern pumpkin) for the pies, instead of canned pumpkin. Steaming, mashing, mixing... it was an intense process.
We spent all day Saturday and Sunday cooking (with Kelsey making a ton of things the week before). Who knew Thanksgiving was so much work?! Luckily, Kelsey has done a lot of cooking in the past since she's worked at a camp full time.
In the end, here was our delicious menu, pretty much everything from scratch.
Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry relish, homemade buns, corn bake, green bean casserole, sweet pickles, two types of stuffing, and... wait for it... SIX pies!
I am still impressed.
The day was really great-- we had our guests come at 6:30. We shared our favorite thanksgiving prayers (yes family, I taught "Be"), taught them all about Thanksgiving (it was almost every one's first), all shared what we were thankful for, and enjoyed the food!
I think the biggest compliment came from Deborah, Doria's sister. Deborah was explaining how she had studied abroad in the UK. One time she was invited for a traditional dinner there, and they served her spaghetti. She said that she ate her plate, and then looked expectantly at the hosts. What food was to come next? Of course, that was it. There was no rice, so she was still hungry! The compliment was that even though our meal had no rice, she was full!
Another funny part of the day was as I was baking the rolls, I had many people ask me what they were stuffed with. Turkey, or maybe pork? I had to explain that no, we don't stuff the rolls, they are just plain. Just bread. I could only laugh as I watched numerous people open up their rolls later in the evening and stuff it with cranberry sauce.
Anyway, I don't think the day could have been any smoother (except for maybe the part where Doria locked the keys inside the car with the unmade turkey roasting in the hot malaysian sun with T-6 hours to go... haha). I think it was so great for all of us volunteers; not only did we enjoy sharing our traditions, but it was just a little piece of home.
The best part... leftover pumpkin pie for breakfast. :)
The apple pie making process! Erika and I were pretty much masters.
Please take note of our oven (that we made almost everything in) on the floor next to me.
We were surprised it made it.
The spread (and the happy eaters)
Mmmm, heaven!
Kelsey, Me, Erika, and Katherine with our homemade pies!!!
Note the Christmas decorations in the background.
It was like Thanksgiving/Christmas in July!
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