A surprise Thanksgiving
Did I say I'd do Thanksgiving if I had air-conditioners? I HAD Thanksgiving BECAUSE I have air-conditioners! Bought them and had them sitting in the living room for a week. Found professionals to install them. Did it on Friday, but not the electrical... you have to call another guy for that. HE came on Saturday. Unplugged the fridge and freezer because he was worried about spikes when he reconnected the power. BUT he didn't unplug the new air conditioner! Poof... seems it blew a hidden fuse and now Mikael is in town trying to hear what can be done and by whom. Purchases and workmanship are usually not guaranteed in Tete.
That was Saturday morning. Sunday morning, after a late breakfast, we opened the freezer to find that "we" forgot to plug it in after the electricity was back to normal. Oops! Surprise! Thanksgiving! I'd found 3 turkey legs in town. They were thawed. So, like a true African housewife, I announced a feast.
Amazingly just about everything I needed for the meal was already here at home. You can't really shop on Sunday since only gas stations are open... and the market. I had a loaf of bread in the freezer for stuffing, I had turkey legs. I'd bought two little butternut squash to substitute pumpkin. I had a tiny packet of dried cranberries that I found stashed away (smart of me to buy them, hide them, remember them and FIND them). I had plenty of potatoes, eggs, margarine, flour, onions, stock powder, and a fresh bottle of gas for the stove! All waiting for Thanksgiving! I was just missing carrots... since I can't get celery for the stuffing, I needed the carrots... available at the local market everyday.
Immediately, I enlisted my 3 helpers in cutting up bread for stuffing. Mikael ran to town and upon his return, helpfully washed all the dishes left overnight and from breakfast, AND peeled potatoes! I cut squash and put it on to boil. Ran the stuffing veggies through the food processor (thanks again, Christina). Threw together two pie crusts while the kids weren't looking. (Hee hee...they like to help with rolling, but this wasn't the time for it!) By 1:00 the stuffing was mixed and in the pan with 3 turkey legs on top. Into the the oven. Katie scraped out my pumpkin and I made the pie filling. I actually had room for 2 pies AND the pan of turkey and stuffing in my little oven!
Somewhere along the day, things moved slowly and dinner wasn't until 7pm. The power was off for a while. Then the water was off most of the afternoon. Then the gas died in the stove and we needed to hook up that new tank... BUT, we had a pretty great meal. Stephen is a new MCC volunteer from Hawaii and California, and he was available for our feast since it was so conveniently delayed! Part of Thanksgiving is about sharing, so it was very nice to have him with us! We were able to be thankful for our blessings of friendship, the comforts of a home in Africa, the bounty of food that we can enjoy even when the harvest in Mozambique is months away. I ate too much. You are supposed to eat too much at an African feast!
I wish all of you a very happy and mostly traditional Thanksgiving. I hope you can share your feast with loved ones or bless someone in need. I hope you remember the love of Jesus who gives us his true LIFE and opens the way to God. I hope you know how blessed you are... no matter how little you have. I'm sure you have something special God gave you that you can share with others. Even your words of faith, hope and encouragement in a struggle are a gift you can share. That's a kind of harvest from your life in Christ that doesn't have a season, but seasons all of life.
I just got a call from Mikael. The man at the shop is sending a technician to check the machine. If he can't fix it, they will replace it! Now THAT is a reason to be thankful! God's favor with a Pakistani shopkeeper in Tete! Just say a little prayer right now for the technician... a smooth solution would be MOST welcome! God is in control. He's good. I've just gotta follow.
That was Saturday morning. Sunday morning, after a late breakfast, we opened the freezer to find that "we" forgot to plug it in after the electricity was back to normal. Oops! Surprise! Thanksgiving! I'd found 3 turkey legs in town. They were thawed. So, like a true African housewife, I announced a feast.
Amazingly just about everything I needed for the meal was already here at home. You can't really shop on Sunday since only gas stations are open... and the market. I had a loaf of bread in the freezer for stuffing, I had turkey legs. I'd bought two little butternut squash to substitute pumpkin. I had a tiny packet of dried cranberries that I found stashed away (smart of me to buy them, hide them, remember them and FIND them). I had plenty of potatoes, eggs, margarine, flour, onions, stock powder, and a fresh bottle of gas for the stove! All waiting for Thanksgiving! I was just missing carrots... since I can't get celery for the stuffing, I needed the carrots... available at the local market everyday.
Immediately, I enlisted my 3 helpers in cutting up bread for stuffing. Mikael ran to town and upon his return, helpfully washed all the dishes left overnight and from breakfast, AND peeled potatoes! I cut squash and put it on to boil. Ran the stuffing veggies through the food processor (thanks again, Christina). Threw together two pie crusts while the kids weren't looking. (Hee hee...they like to help with rolling, but this wasn't the time for it!) By 1:00 the stuffing was mixed and in the pan with 3 turkey legs on top. Into the the oven. Katie scraped out my pumpkin and I made the pie filling. I actually had room for 2 pies AND the pan of turkey and stuffing in my little oven!
Somewhere along the day, things moved slowly and dinner wasn't until 7pm. The power was off for a while. Then the water was off most of the afternoon. Then the gas died in the stove and we needed to hook up that new tank... BUT, we had a pretty great meal. Stephen is a new MCC volunteer from Hawaii and California, and he was available for our feast since it was so conveniently delayed! Part of Thanksgiving is about sharing, so it was very nice to have him with us! We were able to be thankful for our blessings of friendship, the comforts of a home in Africa, the bounty of food that we can enjoy even when the harvest in Mozambique is months away. I ate too much. You are supposed to eat too much at an African feast!
I wish all of you a very happy and mostly traditional Thanksgiving. I hope you can share your feast with loved ones or bless someone in need. I hope you remember the love of Jesus who gives us his true LIFE and opens the way to God. I hope you know how blessed you are... no matter how little you have. I'm sure you have something special God gave you that you can share with others. Even your words of faith, hope and encouragement in a struggle are a gift you can share. That's a kind of harvest from your life in Christ that doesn't have a season, but seasons all of life.
I just got a call from Mikael. The man at the shop is sending a technician to check the machine. If he can't fix it, they will replace it! Now THAT is a reason to be thankful! God's favor with a Pakistani shopkeeper in Tete! Just say a little prayer right now for the technician... a smooth solution would be MOST welcome! God is in control. He's good. I've just gotta follow.
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