Thanksgiving: American, Ukrained Styled

Yeah, I suck.
I string you along and get your hopes up with a string of posts where I update from memory, only to disappear again without a peep.

Sorry about that. I'd say that it won't happen again, but let's be honest: it will. We'll say it is in my blogging nature.

But hey, now that I am here, rather than taking the time today to look way back at what has happened (which I still plan on writing about), let's talk Turkey Day, shall we?

Just like last year, I was put in charge of organizing the Thanksgiving feast for my oblast despite the fact that it was held at another PCVs house in a nearby village. The only thing I really didn't have to worry about was finding the turkey for this year's celebration, that fell to Anne who brought one from her village last year. Two days before our dinner was to happen, I got a call from Anne telling me that she wouldn't be able to get one this year. They were all too small in her village and, therefore, not really worth the kill or money. I called my counterpart and Ukrainian friend and was told by my Ukrainian friend that her mom would find me a turkey and deliver it to me on Saturday morning. A 6-7 kilo turkey. I said it HAD to be that size or not one at all. I relayed this message to Anne that I was 80% sure it would happen. To be one the safe side, Anne would go goose hunting in her village in case turkey didn't work out. On Friday morning, I had my counterpart call my Ukrainian friend to find out for sure, in Russian, about turkey. We determined that it would all work out and that Anne didn't need to find a goose before leaving her village.

Jump to Friday night when I am walking to Josh's house from the bus stop with other PCVs and I get a phone call.

3 kilo turkey. Will be delivered 10AM Saturday morning to my apartment by my friend's mom.

Ukrained!

This was a problem. A 3 kilo bird for 10 people would not cut it. But it was too late. The bird was dead and set for delivery! When we got to Josh's house he made a couple phone calls and found someone who would sell us a goose the next morning at 8AM. Now that our meat plan was settled, we settled in for the evening with a party game and a bit of vodka chased with pickles.

Scene of the crime.

Saturday morning. I wake up to Josh in the kitchen getting ready to be picked up by his Ukrainian friend for the start of The Goose Diaries. The deal was that we could buy a goose, but we'd have to kill and clean it. A task that fell the Josh and Anne since I had to go back to my apartment and wait for turkey. While making pie crust and filling before leaving for the bus back to my place, I hear Josh and Anne's voices and think "that was fast!" Erin, another PCV, comes in and says "there is a goose in a bag outside." And sure enough, there is a live goose waiting for his end. Apparently, Anne had the task of actually catching the thing at the farm. The man we had bought the bird from did the actual killing with the chopping off of its head. Poor little guy. Sadly, I don't have more pictures of the cleaning since I had to leave, but when I returned the bird was feather-free and being blow torched by Josh's host mom over the kitchen stove.

While the last of the little feathers were being burned away, I put together a tasty cherry pie and came up with a plan of action for cooking two birds for dinner. I would put in the turkey first, then the goose would be cooked after. I was left at home with my counterpart who came over just before everyone else left to buy bleach for cleaning and to play football with Josh's students. A bit later, two other volunteers showed up, one of which was with his Ukrainian girlfriend. We now had almost everyone who would be with us for dinner! Once the turkey was done, I was slightly filled with terror since I had not heard/understand (she was speaking Ukrainian) how we should cook the bird. So I went next door and asked her to help me, which she did. After rubbing the bird down with salt and pepper and bringing me and apple for me to cut up and put inside of it with potatoes, she disappeared for a little while. She soon came back with a glass of beer and announced that home was boring. Josh's host mom is pretty awesome and loves me, so she was a welcomed addition to the kitchen (especially since she was helping to keep an eye on the bird!)

The rest of the day was pretty much just a cooking party. I made green bean casserole from scratch and assigned mashed potatoes to one PCV and gravy to another while I rested my back on the couch. We also had some stuffing made from scratch as well. Desserts consisted of my cherry pie, a pumpkin pie, and some chocolate chip pumpkin bars. And, of course, wine was involved. Everything was very good and we all wound up stuffed with food. Both of our Ukrainian guests liked the food, with my counterpart wanting the recipe for green bean casserole. Lilly loves my cooking and baking skills :)

All in all, it was a pretty good holiday!