Thanksgiving Memories and Faraway Friends

I have been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving and what it means to me. I'm not sure if it's just because of the upcoming holidays, or "holidaze" as I like to term it. I think it is because we are so far away from most of our family and friends, and I miss spending time with them. I especially miss cooking for them.

Most people spend the holiday with the family and a select few friends. Before I was married, I only knew the holidays as time spent with family. Gatherings around the table with family, that always ended with discussions about politics. Sometimes fun, but always loud! The food for my family was never the most important thing, it was the gathering and the the love. My grandparents were originally from the New England area, and the dishes I grew up with were all traditional New England Thanksgiving dishes. I miss spending time with family, but I have to admit I do not miss Creamed Onions!

Then I was married, and we were gone. First to Seoul, South Korea where we celebrated with friends. I can't remember many of the details of our first Thanksgiving there, other than the panic of preparing my first big meal for a group of people! We knew how hard it was to be away from family for the holidays and decided to invite anybody who wanted to come. Now that I think about it, it wasn't a huge party, I think there was a over 10 people. But that was more people than I had ever served, and we had to buy more plates, silverware, napkins and glasses! The second year we co-hosted Thanksgiving for a group of mostly single sailors and marines with my friend Chasity who lived 3 floors below us. It was great, and besides the fun, I remember it was the first time I had ever had pecan pie!

Since then, I have celebrated Thanksgiving in 3 different countries, and at least 7 different cities. I've been lucky enough to celebrate through the years with all sets of our families. We've traveled to Dallas to celebrate with Patrick's father and step-mother. Soon after I met my father, he became ill, and we came here to St. Louis to spend the last Thanksgiving that my father got to see with him and his family.

I think about all of the friends that I have fed at our house, and all of the friends who have fed us at their houses. I also think about good friends that I have not had the opportunity to celebrate with. For all of the times that family is far away, friends have become family, and I miss everyone of them.

This is for every member of our immediate families, as well as our friends that are like family: Chasity, Danielle, Tara and Marvin, Crystal and Rob, Shazi and Bernard, Shastie and Ed, Tammy and Marvin, Maureen and Tim , David, Valarie, Michelle and Dan, Craig and Mikal, and Sean and Shay. I'm sorry if I forgot anyone. I love you all!!

Finally, a dish to share with you

We've been having some computer issues, but I think all is well now. For a while there I thought I would finally be getting the Mac that I have always wanted - but alas, Patrick was able to fix our laptop. Although I do want a Mac, I think it's a good thing because I wasn't ready for the expense of a new computer quite yet.

Honestly, I haven't had a lot to write about anyway. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but none of the dishes that I have made have been good enough to tell you about. It's not that anything was horrible, but nothing I've made had a big "Wow!" factor. There has been a perfectly fine roasted chicken, a grilled chicken and roasted red pepper sandwich that needs some work, a decent spaghetti all'arrabbiata, and an edible spicy Thai chicken pasta dish. As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not in love with any of these dishes. I needed to cook something that I just had to tell you about.

And I hadn't cooked anything that good until last night. I have been thinking about making Kofta for a long time. They are a very highly spiced Middle Eastern style meatball, normally made of lamb. When I was young, I practically lived at my friend Shazi's house. Her house is where I first tasted Indian/Pakistani cooking, and where I started to learn to cook. My mom was not a very good cook, and it was such a wonderful change to go there and taste such highly spiced and good food. Shazi's mom cooked spicy - some would say too spicy (and they were her Indian friends!). The first time I tried dhal, I thought my mouth was on fire. It was so hot. It didn't take me too long to get used to hot food, and now I can't do without it. She would cook all the time, but like most people she would cook even more so during the holidays. Shazi's mom would spend days in the kitchen cooking, and Kofta were always part of those meals.

Over the years, I have tried to re-create many of the dishes that I used to eat at their house, dhal, spinach, spicy meat and potatoes - but I had never tried to make Kofta. Last night I finally tried to replicate them, and for my first try, I think they turned out quite well. I don't remember if Shazi's mom used rice in her Kofta (it has been more than 14 years since I've had her meals), but after looking at several recipes, this seemed to be the closest to my memory. I adapted the meatball recipe from "Everyday Asian" by Patricia Yeo and Tom Steele. I served them with a Yogurt and Tahini sauce from "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison. This recipe makes a large batch, which is great to have in the freezer for additional meals. I served them on top of a basic rice pilaf, but they would be wonderful in pita bread with sliced tomato, cucumber and romaine lettuce.

Middle Eastern Spiced Meatballs

Adapted from the recipe Meatballs and Yogurt Sauce in "Everyday Asian" by Patricia Yeo and Tom Steele

1 pound ground beef

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

2 eggs

2 cups cooled steamed rice

1 cup caramelized finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon toasted ground coriander seeds

1 tablespoon toasted ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon toasted ground cardamom pods

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cayenne

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

Mix together the beef, veal, pork, eggs, onion, spices, salt and pepper with your hands. Preheat the oven to 350F. Form the mixture into 3/4 inch balls. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sear and brown the meatballs in the canola oil in batches to avoid crowding. Transfer the browned meatballs to an oven safe dish and roast in the oven until they are fully cooked, approximately 15 minutes. Serve with Yogurt Tahini Sauce.

Yogurt Tahini Sauce

From "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" by Deborah Madison

1 clove garlic, finely minced

salt

1 cup yogurt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and the grated zest of lemon

Make a garlic paste by sprinkling the minced garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt and press the flat of the knife blade into the garlic to form a paste. Place in a bowl and stir in the tahini. Gradually add the yogurt and the lemon zest. Season to taste with lemon juice and salt.

Knitting on a Sleepless Night

I know it's late - 3:35 AM, and even though I would like to go back to my morning person ways, I think both the genetics of the females in my family (who are all night women) and because Patrick is working nights, I just can't seem to sleep. I was just laying down to attempt to go to sleep, and after tossing and turning with the start of this new blog entry repeating in my head more times than I would like them to, I realized that I was not going to be able to get that blessed rest until I wrote what was going through my mind. I think all the knitting I did this evening affected my brain. I guess you could say I have stitches going through my mind! As a military spouse, you get used to being away from your friends and family. But there are times when that it is more difficult than others. You miss so many important events - the good times such as births, birthdays, new jobs and promotions. Then there are the not so good times, the times people need your shoulder to cry on such as deaths, break-ups and divorce. You let friendships slide as you are trying to get used to your new duty station, and the longer that you are away - the worse that this becomes. I have spent the last 13 years as a Navy spouse, and although Patrick is no longer active duty, I find myself missing the people that I have known and loved more and more. It is very difficult to remain as close to both your old and new friends when you are so far away from them and trying to learn your new city, or country, depending on where you have been stationed! I have completely lost contact with many people who are important to me, and am barely in touch with others.



Perhaps this is in the forefront of my mind because of the newness of the year. Or perhaps it is because I am in the process of making several baby blankets for friends who are expecting. I am not an expert knitter, and I had not knitted for several years but I began again when Patrick was in Germany. I needed something to keep me occupied while he was gone, and that was a good thing. For those of you who dislike Martha - I'm sorry, but I do! I do think it was a good time for me to start knitting again because I just found out that several good friends of mine are expecting. It's not that these women are the only friends I have had who have been lucky enough to bring a baby into the world in the last few years, it's just that they are unlucky enough to be expecting when I have more time on my hands! Like I said, I'm not an expert knitter, and these first few knits that I am doing are not exactly works of art. I guess what I really want them to know is that although I cannot be there, that I am thinking of them and their new bundles of joy, and that I wish them warmth, happiness and only the best! I have already made and even mailed out one! It was for my friend Theresa, a woman I met in Washington DC. We worked together, and although we haven't kept in touch quite as much as I would have liked us to, I still want her to know that I am wishing her and her new family only the best. The second is for a woman who is like my sister, for better or for worse, Shazi - we have been friends since we were in the sixth grade (and no, I am not going to tell you how many years that has been because I already feel older than I want to!). The third, the one I haven't even bought the yarn for yet, is for my friend Crystal. The one who could always call my bluffs and remind me that the pot calls the kettle black.



I really have wanted to do something very sophisticated and beautiful. Something that people would look at with great awe, but alas, that is not to be. I have been fighting the yarn, and the patterns that I have been trying. I have ripped out more lately than I have knitted. I got this pattern free online at http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/babyafruffle.htmonthenet.com/patterns/babyafruffle.htm. I know that the colors of the yarn are a little, ahem... different. But I wanted to do something that wasn't your typical pink or blue. I just hope that Shazi likes it! Here is a picture of what I have done so far...