It’s amazing how resourceful a group of displaced Americans can be when they desperately want to celebrate Thanksgiving. Dee and Charlie (originally from NM) opened their home to us and were the driving force behind the fabulous food. Now keep in mind, one doesn’t just dash to Meijer or D&W to pick up the necessary fixings. Here’s how it all came together.
The turkey was purchased at the Embassy PX by a Peace Corps staffer and flown to Bahar Dar securely tucked into Charlie’s suitcase. Charlie and Dee’s friend, Ed (from TX) arrived for a week vacation and served as our best mule. He carted sweet potatoes, pecans, sweet onions, karo syrup, cranberries, and celery. Megan dropped off a tub of crisco (necessary ingredient for me to successfully make my Mom’s pie crust) on her way to Addis and Nicole bused down from Gondar with stovetop stuffing and biscuit mixes courtesy of a recent care package. The rest of us served as the labor force. Beginning Wednesday evening we peeled, sliced, diced, shredded, stuffed, and baked up a storm. During the course of preparations we managed to buy out every last egg from Dee’s egg lady (77 eggs in total)…a fact that still amazes us. On Thanksgiving Day, we prayed for no power outages (how in the world would one cook a turkey in a dutch oven?) and eagerly awaited the arrival of all 14 guests so the celebration could commence. Our Thanksgiving Day feast was truly fabulous and one that I won’t soon forget.
The turkey was purchased at the Embassy PX by a Peace Corps staffer and flown to Bahar Dar securely tucked into Charlie’s suitcase. Charlie and Dee’s friend, Ed (from TX) arrived for a week vacation and served as our best mule. He carted sweet potatoes, pecans, sweet onions, karo syrup, cranberries, and celery. Megan dropped off a tub of crisco (necessary ingredient for me to successfully make my Mom’s pie crust) on her way to Addis and Nicole bused down from Gondar with stovetop stuffing and biscuit mixes courtesy of a recent care package. The rest of us served as the labor force. Beginning Wednesday evening we peeled, sliced, diced, shredded, stuffed, and baked up a storm. During the course of preparations we managed to buy out every last egg from Dee’s egg lady (77 eggs in total)…a fact that still amazes us. On Thanksgiving Day, we prayed for no power outages (how in the world would one cook a turkey in a dutch oven?) and eagerly awaited the arrival of all 14 guests so the celebration could commence. Our Thanksgiving Day feast was truly fabulous and one that I won’t soon forget.
Charlie and Dee
Since there was no post-turkey football game for entertainment, Charlie and Dee asked us to jazz up their gate. Here, Nicole and I are adding our creative touch.
The finished product.
