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Published: December 1st 2008
My FULL plate
That was just the first roundDespite being out of the country (again) for Thanksgiving, it was delightful! I celebrated with 4 other TEFL-ers on Saturday, my first visitors (not including my stalker/secret admirer, who was, incidentally, never heard from again), 3 days after the actual American festivities, at my aparment in Chonburi.
I went to the open market by my apartment, Ban Suan Market, on Friday after school. The market here is bigger than I realized and has almost everything I need, including tofu and dry pasta. It does not, however, have peanut butter, so I will have to go elsewhere for that, but in terms of fresh goods, it is well-stocked—peanuts, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, all kinds of fruits, rice rice rice, etc. I had never arrived early enough to see it in full swing until this week, and then I realized all the bounty it had to offer. There are also non-vegetarian delights, too, for you carnivores out there, like "pork floss" and fish that are still flopping around.
Anyway, I got most of the items for my Thanksgiving menu at the market and went home to cook. It is the first Friday in a long time that
I haven’t gone out on the town in SOME town, but I was excited to cook and get prepared for the big "event." I set up an iTunes playlist for the dinner music as I cooked. The whole process was certainly time-consuming, with just one heating element, but I had all night to do it, so there was no rush.
Kyle and Morgan arrived first on Saturday, from Sri Racha, followed by Conrad and Michelle (who lived in Boulder before here, coincidentally), in from Phanat Nikhom. A few others were unable to make the event, but five was a very comfortable number for the space that we had.
Having guests was a good motivation to clean the room more thoroughly. I spread the pink silk thing I use as a blanket for a tablecloth and used some paper decorations I found at the market for placemats (though I'm pretty sure that's not their purpose) and the center serving area. I bought a beautiful bouquet of orchids for just 13 baht (less than 50 cents!) Remember those corn snacks called Bugles that are shaped like miniature cornucopias? Those are very popular here, called "Cornae," and we scattered those around
the serving dishes for further decoration.
The Thanksgiving menu included:
-Cranberry sauce (store-bought, and, as noted in an earlier blog, quite expensive)
-Mashed potatoes
-Long beans (just like green beans, but reallllllllyyyyyyy long!)
-Corn
-Squash with brown sugar and butter
-Main dish: “Breaded” tofu (smashed corn flakes and sesame seeds) with broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas , carrots, onion, and garlic in a peanut-soy sauce glaze
Morgan brought fresh bread, Kyle brought sweet potatoes with a Thai twist—condensed milk and banana (delicious!) and Michelle and Conrad brought no-bake oatmeal cookies (also very yummy). I also got some “Danish” butter cookies. We ate everything at room temperature, which seemed to be OK since it was pretty warm in the room and we washed it all down with Sangsom (Thai rum) with Fanta, and red wine with dinner. Needless to say, we got properly, American-ly stuffed.
But before we ate, we took time to say some things we were thankful for. Besides all the usual cliche things that I am also thankful for (friends and family), I was really thankful that we were able to get together to eat a proper meal. I couldn't stand to see another American
holiday pass with no recognition the way Halloween did this year. And frankly, I didn't like my co-workers' suggestions of getting pizza or McDonald's to celebrate. In their defense, they are foreign teachers, but no Americans, so they just don't understand. That just would not have cut it.
After everyone left, I relaxed and read. I put all the dish into my "flush bucket" with soap and decided to do them today--no energy left. It's amusing to be able to shower and do dishes at the same time.
I am thankful for my electric pan and mini-fridge. They have changed my life for the better.
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Virginia
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BurgerVirgins.com
Your Thanksgiving feast sounds like it was delightful! Speaking of food, I just saw a ridiculous Burger King commercial featuring 'Chiang Mai villagers' - traditionally dressed Thai people/actors performing a "pure taste test", the results of which can be viewed at burgervirgins.com - WTF. The ignorance of it all.