Thankful

See? I didn't disappear completely.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I'm hosting again. Well, last year I didn't host, and that was nice. I've got a list of things to do today and tomorrow so that I don't get too worn out. I still have to buy the turkeys since I'm getting fresh and don't have a lot of fridge room. I've made pie crust from scratch after discovering that most store bought has lard (we don't eat pork) and Trader Joe's, who doesn't, was all out. I'm going to make the pies this evening and I've got the cranberry sauce simmering. The table will be extended and the buffet area cleared out, I hope, and the house is looking not too disastrous.
But the most important thing is done- and here's where we leave the cooking and go to Sami. The squeamish should leave us now.
Sami is pretty much potty trained, but he isn't always very good at going certain kind of potty. He's been a little fussy for the last day or two, so it was pretty urgent that we take care of that before tomorrow. I didn't want last minute cooking and guests arriving to be waylaid by a potty using 3-year-old.
The problem was, he got peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth, so it was hard to tell what exactly he was fussing about! I managed to get it unstuck, but he wouldn't spit it out of his mouth or swallow it. He did agree to go on the potty and took care of things, but he still has that peanut butter in his mouth, and he won't even be bribed with his favorite cookies to get rid of it. I think it's been about an hour now.
I'm exhausted.

Candelight

We dined  by candlelight last night for the first time in our new house. I used my wedding present candle holders from Angela and Curran and Laura.
There were 29 of us for dinner. Well, three of us were babies, but Sami and his friend Yusef put away some turkey! Habib cooked 2 turkeys, and I made a huge pot of mashed potatoes, and a sweet potato casserole and a corn one, as well as green beans and a big Cesar salad. Majda brought seafood bastilla which went very quickly. Other friends brought various desserts to round out the pumpkin pies Leila had made, and the 11 apple variety crisp that I made*.
As usual, the bulk of our guests were immigrants and foreigners. Two of my students even came, and had  a great time. One is Iranian and the other Iraqi, and quite good friends. Since many of our other guests were Arabic speakers, and Majda's husband is Iranian, everyone got to speak their language- (except no Spanish for me!). We had Moroccans, Tunisians, an American-Egyptian, an Iraqi, Iranians, a Colombian, and a Native American here.
I talked despite my almost non-existent voice (from a cold)**. About the time we had dinner I was overcome by exhaustion, but powered through. We did a big buffet table in the kitchen, stretched our new dining table to its fullest, and set up another table in the office/living room. Habib threw together a couple of benches for our old Ikea mattresses- (the kids have claimed them and fight over them now). I took Sami up to bed after everyone left, and Habib did all the dishes (the plates were easy- paper! I can't find all my china dishes yet.) Today I've done practically nothing- managed a turkey soup for dinner.
Habib said it was the best party we've had- and we like to party!
*Whilst in the store the other day, Leila said, "An apple is an apple," so I asked her to get one of each apple and we ended up with 11 which we taste tested on Wednesday night. She learned that an apple is not just an apple. Some are sweeter and others juicier.
**Wednesday morning I dragged into class late and wrote on the board: "Good morning. I made it. But my voice didn't!" My students were very understanding.

Sated

I took no pictures, but it was a feast. Two turkeys roasted all day. Pumpkin pies and cranberry sauce made with orange zest and a bit of juice waited around, having been made the night before. I invented a recipe using the 8 sweet potatoes I roasted and left to cool in the oven overnight. I combined them in the mixer, with the dregs of the whipped cream just mixed, 4 eggs, some orange juice, a bit of milk and a splash of cream, plus a dash of nutmeg. I didn't even forget the salt. I whipped them in the mixer for several minutes, till all the lumps were gone, then put them into a 370 degree oven for about half an hour. They were quite a hit with my skeptical guests and even H, who doesn't really like sweet potatoes. I couldn't win the kids over, though.
We also had mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, and green beans.
One Morrocan guest brought meat pastries because I loved them when she served them at her house, and little pecan tartlets. Our Tunisian friends brought pudding and red tea. (Tunisians boil red tea for a long time, and add a lot of sugar. It's surprisingly good, even without the geranium leaf we add when we're there.) We ate and ate. Then some more Moroccan friends showed up with a cake.
We had coffee with our pumpkin pie, and then green mint tea and red tea. Fruit was there for those who were still hungry, and whole nuts to crack.
The oud was brought out, and the Darbuka- (drum) and the house rang with music. No one over the age of ten was eligible to be president in the U.S., unlike two years before when one guy- from Libya- had actually been born here.  The kids played hide and seek and other fun things- and got along super well.
Now we're all snug in our beds, the temperature continuing to drop outside after yesterday being park weather. I'm thankful for it all- as one friend put it today- it's not about the food, it's about being with friends. So, I hope you have much to be thankful for this year, too. Blessings.