Gobble, Gobble

First things first: Happy Birthday ma. Yesterday was ma's birthday and I wanted to put that out there.

Onto the other, less important topic from yesterday: Thanksgiving. Even though I still don't know why we have this holiday, I enjoy it very much. This time around, I wouldn't be spending it back home with the fam or Central Massachusetts with the Winters' but rather in Bologna, Italy.

Do they celebrate Thanksgiving over here you might ask? Well, no they don't. You won't see anyone glued to the television watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade nor will you see turkeys hanging in windows of stores. But, given the fact that my program pulls out all the stops and takes care of the students, we had a great feast.

The dinner was to be held at this house of my cooking instructor. I have been meaning to write about these classes but have yet to do so. The woman is names Rita and she is a chef and a nutritionist and overall, just one hell of a woman. Her house is very nice and her kitchen is extremely impressive. When the sign up sheet was posted for cooking shifts, I signed up for the first one in the morning.

When I arrived at Rita's house I was informed that I would have to wait until she returned from grocery shopping. (For the record, I was late and she decided to do some more shopping until I showed up) When she came back she asked if I wanted to go get cheese with her and I responded with a "certo" (of course in Italian).

It was a short walk to her cheese spot. Literally, as soon as I opened the door I was hit with a one heck of a scent: fresh, delicious, cheese. It was everywhere. Cheese behind the counter, cheese on the counter, cheese in the refrigerator, cheese hanging from the ceiling, cheese hanging from the wall. Everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if there was cheesse underneath the floor or on the roof.

I was looking around like a kid in a candy store but more like a Oakland cat with a beard in a cheese shop in Italy. While we were waited on, Rita was pointing to different cheeses and explaining where they come from, what you eat it with, what type of wine to drink it with, and all kinds of good information. She then, after getting a hefty amount of cheese, asked the man working their to give me a taste of Parmesan cheese that was aged 24 months and 30 month. I couldn't really taste a difference but they were both excellent.

Once we finished with the cheese, we headed back to her place to begin cooking for the 27 people she was having over for Thanksgiving.

I, along with 2 other girls from my program were there for the morning shifts and we were going to work on the dessert. There were in total: apple pie, pumpkin pie, and a special dessert of Rita's recipe. She assigned me to her special recipe and I was all for it.

Her recipe was sweet potatoes and white chocolate in a sort of pie/cake. I was to peel and cut white sweet potatoes, put the potatoes in warm boiling milk, melt white chocolate with milk and then put it all together. It took a while to prepare and cook all of it but it turned out well. And the smell of it while cooking was incredible. Made me want to just start biting the air.

Once the second group, who were cooking the entrees showed up, I headed back to my spot to finish some homework and relax a bit.

All the food we ate last night for dinner was great. Turkey, mashed potatoes, cabbage, stuffing, pumpkin soup, roasted potatoes. The turkey was absolutely huge. 27 people ate from it and not until the end of the night, when we were asked if we wanted doggy bags, did I know there was a second turkey that wasn't touched. Yes, these were your standard American Thanksgiving dishes but this was from an Italian kitchen so it was better. Naturally.

The desserts all tasted good and I was happy to see my final product. It is a whole different take on the day when you are one of the people that help cook. There is more that goes into the meal than meets the eye. Plus, if you ever go into the kitchen during the meal it is like a behind the scenes of a DVD. Everyone is busy working, cutting, pouring, etc. while the others are calmly eating away in the dining room.

Once the night seemed to be dying down, Rita shocked everyone by putting on sum tunes over here big speakers. She encouraged everyone to dance and although it was to Marvin Gaye's 'Sexual Healing' I was jammin'. (It's not like I don't like the song but rather I was not to sure how to rock out to it) After a few songs, we called it a night and bid are farewells.

So here is to Rita and a great Thanksgiving.




And here is to my ma: Happy Birthday