No pilgrims, no Indians, no big feast of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November in Ghana. But the missionaries still celebrated on the Saturday after with lots and lots of food and lots and lots of people.
I just have to say the turkeys in Ghana are different. The neck is left on, the long feet are put inside along with the innards - no little packages, and the legs are not tied together. But most of all, I noted that they are not brined or frozen with any seasoning at all. The turkey smelled.....like dead meat. A smell I associate with my childhood. Dad bringing things back to be cooked. The nice plastic wrapped turkey's I am used to are really nice. And now I know they are nice. Do they put a preservative on them?
My turkey came frozen in a large plastic bag that was tied at the top. I needed two turkeys and it was nice to pick up two of them on Wednesday when I went to order. They cost a lot! I was assured by Eugene that turkey farms are in Ghana, but not very many of them. I am glad it wasn't imported...I think. The cost was just about as much. But you have to have turkey for Thanksgiving!
So I let them thaw in the fridge.
What was I thinking?!! Despite the plastic bag and the other plastic bag from the store, they dripped off the shelves down my fridge onto the bottom shelf where it caught the lip of another bag and filled that with blood and water. Oh so much fun to clean and disinfect that whole place! I really hate that dead meat smell. Next year I am signing up for a salad - or bringing a pre-cooked ham.
The other bag of course, had things I'd bought for a missionary package. -- A young missionary. I will start all over again.
I put the turkeys into cooking bags and let it go. I should have seasoned the whole bird. Ah, the things we learn. The gravy needed a lot of seasonings to be nice. I cheated and added a McCormick gravy pack to help it taste normal.
Bobby made an emergency run with more flour, brown sugar and things I was running out of with the banana bread. It was so very nice of him to go get what I needed and bring them over. He has a small shop and knows where to go to get things. I paid for a taxi and the supplies with mobile money. I love mobile money - so convenient.
The senior missionaries were so much fun and had decorated the tables up so wonderful. real round tablecloths, squares of color and square pumpkins in the middle. Orange cloth over a box and green for the stem. Simple and very nice.
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| I was the only one to invite a couple of friends. Juliet and Baaba really enjoyed themselves and the food. I brought containers so they could bring something home. Going hungry at Thanksgiving time is not right. |
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| Missionaries in the Africa West Area November 2024 |
I went home very tired.
Until I realized it was more than tiredness.
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