Three gallons of pumpkin soup – neatly packaged in ziplock bags in my freezer. Pillow-y soft – that’s how I prefer the texture. There’s also a very shallow batch of cornbread. Somehow I mixed up the measurements for flour and cornmeal. I needed 1 3/4 cup of flour and just 3/4 cup of the meal. Not sure how I mixed that up. Nonetheless – what I have is a shallow pan of dense bread – usable but not ideal. I will make another batch tonight. I was graced with the help of a good friend that came to help me peel and mash and puree and taste.
The RSVP’s have all come in. There will be 40 mouths to feed in all. The 7kg turkey is thawing on the counter – that will be fried. I can only hope that my other friend has pulled the 9kg bird from his freezer. That will be baked. I called my mom last night – desperately seeking her recipes for corn pudding, crab soup and the potato casserole. She was on her mobile driving and thumbing through her mental file of Thanksgiving dishes. She rattles out the directions faster than I can jot them down….not in any particular order….I had to slow her down…’just give me the ingredients first’. A dash of this….about a cup of that…oh but you have to saute that before mixing it with this. ‘Use your judgment’ …and ‘just enough for taste’ dominated her list of anecdotes. Everything gets mixed and poured into a greased casserole dish – except for the soup 
. I keep forgetting that West Indians don’t really do the ‘measurement’ thing…
The catering company didn’t receive my email re-confirming my order for tables & chairs and place settings. Panic was starting to settle in. Though it is Thanksgiving Day in America – it is another work day for me in Beirut – with meetings and reports and problems to solve….and I have NO TIME to solve my dinner table supply issue…Luckily they have called me back confirming tomorrow’s pre-dinner delivery…a bit more relieved now. My family back home is busy running around…putting the final touches on the Big Feast for tonight. For me, I think it is the calm before the storm. I still need to peel 20lbs worth of potatoes, sweet potatoes and apples. And then there is the issue of the pumpkin pie. I can’t find the pumpkin pie filling in the can. Not sure if I want to go out and buy another gourd and make it from ‘super’ scratch. I will check one more grocery store before resorting to another dessert option – perhaps the pumpkin soup will be all the pumpkin that people will want. I could do a sweet potato pie….not a lot of time to decide. I do have an extra gas tank for the oven – the food will be fully cooked. That is one catastrophe that is avoided. My dear roommate will go on the wine run from the duty free shop near the Port. I fear his sensitive palette for fine wines will send this event over the moon. ‘Keep it moderate’ – my advice to him for his purchases.
It feels strange now….it is the official Turkey Day yet I had leftover pasta, gnocchi and pizza for dinner – all washed down with mango Absolut and cranberry juice. Perhaps, that has staved off the anxiety. I can’t possibly be this organized. Dinner for 40 people is just around the corner. I don’t have a pot to fry the turkey…and at this point, I’m not sure where the propane tank and grill will come from to do this safely….and yet the fear of failure – massive failure has not yet set in.
A dear American friend who lives in Abu Dhabi is arriving tonight. Luckily she likes to cook too. I have a minor ‘to do’ list for her. She knows me well and will not be a bit surprised about her ‘working holiday’. – well…. hopefully not.
