It is Wednesday. The dinner is on Friday. In my head, I hear a circus tune…Entry of the Gladiators to be exact. The carnival of chaos is about to begin. I wonder will I be able to pull it off again this year. There are somethings that appear to be in order. I have all of my food. The caterers have called to confirm the table and chairs delivery for Friday. The electrician came yesterday to install my new chandelier for the dining room – a fantastic alternative to what was there before – an empty hole in the ceiling 
.
My first house guests have arrived. They are an American couple that lives in Gaza. Together over the next 48 hours, we will peel and chop and stir and taste and drink…but maybe not necessarily in that order. My plan is to prepare and assemble all of the casseroles Thursday night. If there is time, I will prep the turkeys as well. If Friday is a perfect day, I will only have to direct a crew of delivery men to set up the tables and chairs and bake the food. However, my life is not that simple. At least not the one I have chosen to live. I have a full work day ahead of me on Thursday. It’s actually a work retreat in Southern Lebanon. I will not get home until early evening. The time will be limited. I will be sleepy. At some point i will rationalize that I can get away with prepping half the casseroles the night before and leaving the rest for the next day. We all know that is a bad idea. I will share this strict schedule with my house guests. They will hold me to my schedule – hopefully.
I’m not nervous about Friday….yet. I follow Dorie Greenspans’s page on Facebook (Author, Around My French Table). She posted information about Martha Stewart’s Thanksgiving emergency hotline and her own upcoming appearance on Martha’s radio program later that day. Topic of the day – preparing for Thanksgiving. I posted her a note thanking her for the information about the Thanksgiving resource guide (available as a download). I shared that I was hosting a seated dinner for nearly 60 people this year. Dorie wrote back almost immediately: “Natalie – 60 people?, seated? Super super impressive! Have fun with it, I’m sure your guests will.” I think that was all I needed to read to feel better about it all. She really said ‘SUPER IMPRESSIVE’!!! Though, I’m not sure if I’m having fun with this as yet. I’m trying to create a bit of zen in the kitchen. It’s not working.
Here’s the menu line up for Friday:
Appetizers
Gougeres (French cheese puffs with gruyere, Dorie’s recipe)
Baked brie with honey and almonds
Main Course
Apple spiced pumpkin soup
Fried Turkey
Baked Turkey
Brown sugar and honey baked ham
potato casserole
corn pudding
stuffing
sweet potatoes
rolls
Home -made apple pie
Loads of other pot luck dishes brought by guests
My friend, who happens to be a chef here in Beirut will make the pumpkin soup and bread rolls. I am very thankful for his generosity. I’m now worried that my stuffing will taste like Stove Top stuffing like it did last year. I’m trying to find my inner ‘Martha’ to guide me through this process. I’ve already placed the first of several calls to my mother. I expressed my concerns about the stuffing. Within seconds, my mother rattled off a series of ingredients and instructions. I may need to skype her in for a live session in the kitchen tomorrow. I told her that I wanted to do a nice brown sugar ham and had even bought the pineapples and whole cloves. It’s a bit embarrassing actually. I feel like a child that has begged to go to the swimming pool only to get there and stand in front of the deep end wearing a swimsuit and goggles and wonder what to do next. Why on God’s green earth would I buy a ham and have no idea how to really prepare it? Again, my mother rattles off a few instructions. She makes it sound so easy. I sense that several international phone calls will be made in the next 48 hours.
What options do I have? I can reach inwards and channel my inner ‘Martha’. Most likely, however, in the end, I will channel my mother….via skype!
