Thanksgiving this year was beautiful. That is the only word I can think of to describe it. Sitting down to dinner, an American to my left and a Burkinabé to my right, one of my fellow stagières (Peace Corps Trainee) recounted the Pilgrim and Native American Thanksgiving story. A grand feast prepared in celebration of a successful harvest à grace de (because of but with a more positive connotation) the collaboration of two differing cultures. Being new Pilgrims, I was amazed by the traditional meal we were able to pull off.
· 3 Turkeys: 2 prepared in a large double oven, the other in an oven we made. The strapping young lads of the group dug a large hole, lined it with rocks, layered the bottom with coals, and place the marmite (cauldron?) containing turkey on top.
· Stuffing: Apparently you cannot find sage in this country; however, with apples, bread, squash, and vegetable stock, we made it work. It was amazing!
· Green bean casserole: So this was the dish of which I was in charge. I found a very large can of green beans (because they are not in season right now) as well as a can of mushrooms. I made some gravy from a packet and reduced it with the mushrooms. I also fried some onions with an egg wash so it was pretty much legit French's green bean casserole.
· Fruit salad: Ok, this part is not so traditional but we just couldn't pass up fresh pineapple, mangoes, and watermelon.
· Mac-n-Cheese: We spent way too much money on real cheese in Ouagadougou but it was totally worth it.
· Apple pie and Pumpkin pie: everything from scratch... real pumpkin and real apples... I was so impressed.
· Sangria: again, something that just happens in a tropical setting.
· Cranberry sauce: failed attempt... it wouldn't set in the heat but it’s the thought that counts.
· Mashed potatoes: we even found real milk straight from the dairy.
· Mashed sweet potatoes: with pineapple. So good.
· Cookies: our boss makes fantastic chocolate chip cookies with a few extra tropical ingredients like coconut.
After a couple weeks of village starvation, most of us had a hard time digesting all of that meal.
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