After slacking for two weeks with no posts, I am going to make it up to you. Here is a little story about Thanksgiving in Nicaragua.
Well, first, you should remember that Nicaraguans do not celebrate Thanksgiving. This is an American holiday. At times, it is a little like swimming upstream....for example, the number of cans of Libby's Pumpkin are limited...and I failed to find a can this year. So, I decided to use AYOTE. Ayote is a local squash that is very similar to pumpkin. Despite the outcries of my children claiming that I could essentially ruin the pie eating experience by using ayote, I forged ahead and prepared the "pumpkin."
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| First, I boiled it...because it is as hard as a rock. |
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| Then, into the blender. |
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| Now, I have my "pumpkin" puree. |
Let's be honest...it isn't the "pumpkin' we taste. It is the pumpkin pie SPICES we love. Ground cinnamon....check. Ground ginger....check. Ground cloves....NOT TO BE FOUND. However, there were whole cloves. So, Andrew ground the cloves for me.
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| Thankful for my Pampered Chef chopper thingy. |
Of course, lest we forget our sense of humor...why not get your septic tank pumped on Thanksgiving morning.
Apparently, to further the development of 'sense of humor', when you open up the can of evaporated milk that expired almost a year ago and it looks like this.....
....you send your wonderful husband to the grocery store to buy a new can. It is now, that you are glad that it isn't a national holiday in the country and stores are open. (Although, it sounds like stores stay open in the U.S. now too. Hmmmm.)
On with the story...the pumpkin (ayote) pie turned out lovely and tasted like pumpkin pie...because AGAIN...it is the spices we taste not the squash. And yes, I made my children say,
"Oh, Mom, you were right! We were wrong. It tastes just like pumpkin pie!"
Things went rather smoothly after this. We decorated. We finished all the final touches on the food. We cooked the turkey. We enjoyed good company. We gave THANKS to our God from whom all good things come!
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| Gratitude. Todah. Yadah. Thanks. Appreciation. Eucharistos. |
