A Day Full of Gracias

I suppose it is a sort of "rite of passage" for a woman to take on the Thanksgiving feast. And, admittedly, I have usually have just enjoyed the fruits of the labor of my mother, aunts, and grandmother. This is usually because I am busy watching the Packer's game in the other room. But, as November 24th slowly approached here in Lima, Peru, I realized just how far away I was from roasted turkey and gravy. Usually if we use a tablespoon of butter to make our soup, we are really being generous. I thought, however, that although no one here really knows about or probably cares about El Dia de Accion de Gracias, I might be able to show through a labor of love, how thankful I was for my Peruvian family by cooking them "the feast." Because after all, Thanksgiving is a time for sharing a meal with loved ones, to celebrate and to fellowship.  

Our Fresh Chicken!!

I mentioned the idea to Amparo and she said she was game. Great! All I had to do now is find recipes that I could actually tackle here with the right ingredients and then find them at the market. Early Thursday morning Amparo and I headed out to the open air market (which I love) to find the freshest fruits, vegetables and meats you can get. We were pretty much at a loss for finding a turkey, it just isn't the season here apparently, but we did find a nice plump (and very, very, fresh) chicken. We carried our overflowing bags back to the house and unloaded the goods. 

All the Ingredients

What was on the menu?? Roasted chicken, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans and corn, squash and apple pie for dessert. The mixed blessing of it not actually being a  recognized holiday here was that we weren't going to eat the meal until 8:30pm when everyone was home for work. This meant that I could watch the entire Packer's game (!) which I found on some obscure channel in Peru before preparing the meal.  This also meant that I would be eating a TON right before bed. Like I said, mixed blessing.

Basting the chicken.

I began by dressing the chicken. Which first meant we had to clean it really, really, well. We also had to dry our spices on the stove, because they are all fresh here. We put the prepared chicken in the oven (which is only the second time we have used it) and let it cook for nearly 3 hours. Don't worry, it came out really moist. Then Amparo and I worked for the next few hours to make sure everything was ready to go when the chicken was done. Boiling the potatoes, making our own bread crumbs, chopping up the veggies, and using a lot of butter. I think Amparo's eyes just got wider every time I used another stick of butter. I think it is the American equivalent to Aji (chili) here. 

Everyone getting ready to enjoy

My grandmother who lives below us let us borrow her little electric oven so we could cook things a little faster and also came up to help us mash and chop. Improvisation was the name of the game but, when it was all said and done, I was happy with what I smelled cooking away on the stove top. Ronald came home from work around 8:00pm and Amparo and I worked to make sure everything was hot. My grandparents and aunt came up for dinner bearing gifts of apple pie and of Chica Morada, one of the best drinks in Peru and a perfect accompaniment to our meal.

A yummy success! 

We were ready to eat well, to laugh well, and to love well. True, we certainly did not need an American holiday to do that, but, it was an opportunity for me to say thank you in a small way to the people I love and who have treated me as one of their own. We went around the table and each gave thanks to God for something in our lives. It was beautiful to listen to their words of praise to an ever faithful God, no matter the circumstance. We literally stuffed ourselves and everyone had seconds! When my grandpa asked for more because it was muy rico, I knew I had done alright. 


We finished at 11pm and I was more than ready for bed. Full of food and tired from a day full of shopping and cooking. But, it was totally worth it. I think I really understand now why there are usually five busy women in the kitchen!