Well the holidays are certainly here! What a fun time we have been having. Strangely enough, Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving - go figure ;). So the Bible School decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner of our own and invite some of our Italian friends along with our American friends here. What a party!
We had it on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, seeing as most Italians work on Thursdays, but the preparations began on Thanksgiving day proper - lots of cleaning, shopping, and cooking! Thursday we cleaned the dining room from top to bottom, moving couches, wardrobes, and other furniture. We also made a trip to the Metro (kind of like a Sam's), bringing home two over-sized shopping carts full of supplies. The next day we fired up the ovens, producing mass quantities of.....desserts mostly. The most important element in any Thanksgiving dinner! Also on Friday, our friend from language school, Tracey, arrived to spend the weekend with us. What a guest! She helped us cook, clean, wash dishes, and decorate. She was so willing and such a great help to us. Mom has requested her presence next year in advance. :) We made cherry/pear crisp, a huge pumpkin pie, clam and spinach dip, and the beginnings of dressing. We woke up Saturday morning and finished the checklist of dishes - chocolate pies, sweet potato casserole, sweet tea (very important - this is the only thing Tracey couldn't help with, seeing as she is from the north ;) ), corn, peas, mashed potatoes, fruit jello salad, and of course the three turkeys. Whew!
It was a great night - we had 32 diners including ourselves, and it was so much fun to spend time with our Italian friends and to introduce them (or re-expose them) to an American cultural tradition. It was worth every minute of preparation, and I wish we could do it again tomorrow!
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