Holidays are in the Heart

[Henny]

It is nice to be celebrating Thanksgiving in Michigan with my family. Next year, I surely won't be in the States at all - possibly in Jordan with my family there. Possibly in Dubai as I'm working on a deal with my current employer to work with an affiliate there. Possibly even in Saudi Arabia as my husband has some job interests there.

Last Thanksgiving was my first away from my home and family and brought me to realize that holidays are in your heart. How strange it is to wake up on a day that you have known to be a holiday your entire life and find that the rest of the population has... gone to work.

But I couldn't just let Thanksgiving pass, and so I invited some 45 family members over for a Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey and all the trimmings. Most of these people had never had turkey in their lives - it just isn't that popular in Jordan. Finding the turkey was another problem, and I did finally find one at a shop frequented by diplomats and their families... a frozen Butterball to the tune of $75. No, wait - 45 people? Make that 3 Butterballs at $225. Yikes!

The next problem was that I had never made a Thanksgiving dinner by myself - I always made it with my mother and sisters. So I spent a great deal of the days preceding the holiday on the phone with my mother double-checking recipes.

So the big day finally arrived and I was up at 4:30 AM cleaning and getting things started. Now, in the Middle East, families with means tend to live in large family "compounds." In our case, my in-laws built a large house - about 10,000 sq. They live on the main floor, we live in the lower apartment, and there is yet another sizable apartment, plus 2 studio apartments for guests. Lucky for me, because who can fit 3 turkeys in an oven? The better part of my day was spent running up and down, up and down, up and down, checking on the turkeys.

Dinner time finally arrived. I have to mention here that I was a bit lazy about peeling that many potatoes, so I prepared the mashed potatoes in a fashion that turned out to be uniquely American - I scrubbed them and left the peels on. At one point I walked into the kitchen to find my mother-in-law diligently picking the peels out of the mashed potatoes, saying, "Anne, you forgot to peel your potatoes!" (I laughed so hard my side almost split.)

Now, I couldn't just give a Thanksgiving dinner without explaining what Thanksgiving IS in the American tradition. So I alternated my son between Pilgrim and Indian costumes and told the story of Thanksgiving. They seemed to enjoy it, but then again, they might have been humoring me just to get to the large dinner.

As it turns out, I found a lot of people picking out peels during their dinner, giving me strange looks. (That crazy American forgot to peel the potatoes!) Everyone brought a dish to contribute as well, which made for a unique Thanksgiving dinner with the additions of hummus, fried kibbe, baba ganoush, etc. Cranberries were another part I had to explain. I couldn't find any fresh cranberries, but I did find the canned variety in the diplomat market. You know the can shape... a lot of people wondering what the heck THAT was.

In the end it went well. One relative said very kindly to me afterwards, "Any time you want to give Thanks again, please be sure to let us know - we will be here!"

Yes, holidays are definitely in the heart.

[Lanya]

Henny, that would be a wonderful magazine article.  You're a good story-teller!

[Amianthus]

At one point I walked into the kitchen to find my mother-in-law diligently picking the peels out of the mashed potatoes, saying, "Anne, you forgot to peel your potatoes!" (I laughed so hard my side almost split.)

Did you let her know that much of the nutrients in potatoes are in the peel? She was picking out the part that's good for you!

[Xavier_Onassis]

Dinner time finally arrived. I have to mention here that I was a bit lazy about peeling that many potatoes, so I prepared the mashed potatoes in a fashion that turned out to be uniquely American - I scrubbed them and left the peels on. At one point I walked into the kitchen to find my mother-in-law diligently picking the peels out of the mashed potatoes, saying, "Anne, you forgot to peel your potatoes!"

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I agree that it is better to eat the peels. They taste better that way, and of course are more nutritious. But as a thirteenth-generation American, I have never met another American who did not peel potatoes before mashing them. Not any Latin Americans, either. So I dispute that this is an American thing.

[Amianthus]

So I dispute that this is an American thing.

Since potatoes are a new world vegetable, the mere practice of eating potatoes is American, peeled or not.

[Lanya]

I quarter them, cook them with the peels on, then slice them a bit, cold water, then peel them.  Much easier.

[Henny]

At one point I walked into the kitchen to find my mother-in-law diligently picking the peels out of the mashed potatoes, saying, "Anne, you forgot to peel your potatoes!" (I laughed so hard my side almost split.)

Did you let her know that much of the nutrients in potatoes are in the peel? She was picking out the part that's good for you!

LOL, indeed I gave that speech to everyone. That's how I was raised - always eat the peel, even on a baked potato.

[Henny]

Dinner time finally arrived. I have to mention here that I was a bit lazy about peeling that many potatoes, so I prepared the mashed potatoes in a fashion that turned out to be uniquely American - I scrubbed them and left the peels on. At one point I walked into the kitchen to find my mother-in-law diligently picking the peels out of the mashed potatoes, saying, "Anne, you forgot to peel your potatoes!"

==================================================================
I agree that it is better to eat the peels. They taste better that way, and of course are more nutritious. But as a thirteenth-generation American, I have never met another American who did not peel potatoes before mashing them. Not any Latin Americans, either. So I dispute that this is an American thing.

I've even had it that way in restaurants.

[Henny]

Henny, that would be a wonderful magazine article.  You're a good story-teller!

Thanks, Lanya. I've thought about putting together a bunch of stories like this to see if I can get published. I have had many strange experiences abroad, most of them very funny (to Americans anyway). And living in the Middle East is definitly involves some culture shock - so many things are different. Things we take for granted.