This Thanksgiving though is destined to be different from the outset. We are in Egypt and all far away from our real families. We are in Egypt where Thanksgiving isn't celebrated but Eid Al Adha, the first day of which is today, is. So, family; I feel you can make your own wherever you are. And, why not? We are all part of someone's family somewhere; we all belong to that great family of the human race so why not knit a family where you are. Turkey isn't much called for here but Heba manages to find a beautiful 15lb specimen which makes the oven shelf buckle under its weight. We shop in the morning for vegetables and all the while Egyptians are preparing for their feast too (there are flocks of sheep in the streets and cattle on trucks).
Arriving later at Heba's at 2pm to help with the
preparations, I find her already peeling a pile of potatoes and that the turkey has been cooking since 11am for a dinner around 4pm. The smell of the stuffing is amazing! Lots of rosemary too. Of course, as good cooks always do, we have a little tipple whilst we prepare - vodka cocktails...mmm. There is turkey, stuffing, sweetcorn, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, peas, broccoli and gravy. You cannot help but be excessive with these kinds of meals! You think every single guest will have a huge portion of everything but forget that there is such a quantity of different dishes that it ends up as a mountain on your plate once you take a bit of everything - it seems to be the law of special occasion food.People arrive and everyone has brought something. There is a vegetarian alternative to turkey (mini quiches), more stuffing and yorkshire puddings (yes, a Brit contribution and very welcome too), lots of wine, pecan pie, chocolate brownies, apple chocolate crisp, chocolate cake and even a bottle of port. This is what I mean by the law of special occasion food. Meanwhile things are hotting up in the kitchen with Heba as she wrestles the skin off the turkey to scoff right there and divides the meat into white and dark, throws vegetables in dishes and enlists the help of guests to take the food into the dining area. Imagine it all on the table! Then imagine it on plates with jolly pirates on and with red and white cutlery! Somehow with all the pots and pans and serving dishes and table spoons and pasta servers and napkins and split gravy on the kitchen floor, it all comes together, is passed round and it's all delicious.
Even better though, when we sit down to eat there is a lovely buzz of conversation and laughter and a sense of easy goingness and all's right with the world. We all know that all isn't right with the world but just for a short time we can suspend our sense of reality and enjoy just being there in the moment. As guests we are a mixture of Americans, Brits and a Bahamian. Our topics of discussion range from using the words 'stuffing' or 'dressing', the origins of yorkshire pudding and mince pies and how the mash resembles the mud mountain Richard Dreyfuss builds in 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. Probably many other things too but I'm several glasses of wine down the line by now...
We end by watching 'Charlie Brown' and 'Doctor Horrible', with second helpings, opening the port and finally, Heba's piece de resistance! She had the forethought to buy sets of divided, t.v. dinner-style containers so we can take food away for tomorrow! It's brilliant! We all help ourselves - one container for savoury, one for sweet. I leave with such a sense of well being and feeling very benevolent and content. We give about half a chocolate cake to the three guards on duty at the end of the road. They look really pleased and are licking their fingers as they stop the traffic for us so that we can pass.
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