who you calling turkey?

andy n zirhan, originally uploaded by seamonkeylifeboat.

So here it appears that I am the man of the house carving the turkey. What you don't see is that soon after this picture was taken I handed the knife to young Zirhan and he, with his best impression of a knight at the king's feast, dismantled the rest of the Turkey with zest and vigor.

Organizing a thanksgiving dinner/potluck is a little different here. Firstly, turkeys are a rare bird which only come out for a few christian holidays like Christmas. We ended up going to the Marriot because their South African pastry chef imports butterball turkeys from the U.S. to cook thanksgiving dinners for ex pats for a small fee. Turns out our turkey came stuffed, with gravy, 3 vegetables and some oddly shaped pumpkin pies. It was all really quite tasty (at least to us Amereeekans).

The day after we went to the Marriot and organized the turkey, we received a phone call stating that we could not have the turkey on Thursday, but they would have it ready for us on Friday. After some indignation and ground standing, we were told it was all a terrible mistake and we would have our turkey on Thursday as planned.

The potluck aspect was a little different as well. Some people brought or bought dishes and brought them, and others brought their raw ingredients and their cook who went in the kitchen to attempt american food. The kitchen was a place of great mirth and awe at the "big" chicken and other american culinary oddities. The big chicken was retrieved by Rohan's driver, Raju, who had to suffer a one and a half hour wait for the turkey probably as payback for our inflexibility about the timing of our turkey.

All told, it was a great feast with suitable levels of mirth and chaos and that staple of american culture--the distended and somewhat painful belly of over indulgence.