I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the living God. I am grateful that I know Him, hear His voice, and by His grace I can be near to Him. I am grateful for eternal salvation with assurance of promise, hope, and a future. I am grateful.
Soaking this afternoon, while eating left over pumpkin pie, I am enjoying the glory of Abba. Before I serve you any more pabulum (for you, Jo), I just HAVE to say- Kady makes AMAZING pie! When possible, grind fresh ginger into the pumpkin pie rather than the powder. THANK YOU KADY K!
Koinonia is an incomparable cohesion. Explicitly, the blessing of community with people of a shared vision, a shared heart, a shared PASSION is exactly what I am grateful for this afternoon. Thanksgiving day is full of potential for frenzied hecticness. My Thanksgiving was the opposite. Easy, enjoyable and enchanting would be precise adjectives. The morning started out with a final breakfast with my delightful Croatian sisters at about 8:45 a.m. After 2 cups of Croatian coffee, I was ready to attack the biggest obstacle of the day - a 15.74kg (35lbs) fresh-from-the-farm-turkey to roast. Testing the gas stove, I nervously struck my first match. No flames. Trying a second time, with very little hope, we testing the gas source in the oven. No flames. Alright, no problem. I still have the electric oven that I can use. Only difficulty is that this oven is approximately 18" x 18" x 18". There is no way a 35lb bird is going to fit in this small oven. So what did I do? The only logical thing that anyone could do- I cut my turkey in half. Ljubica, a great woman, assisted me in the dissection. Really, it was more of an aggressive hacking, chopping, sawing; than a "cutting." For the sake of remaining PG, we'll call it cutting. Okay, bird cut in half and lying pan. Next problem- fat birds have fat legs. Off comes the drumstick. Perfectly snug fit. Tucked into his nest of foil, the halfurkey went into the oven at exactly 10:00 a.m.
An hour or so later, the Wolfsbergers arrived, arms full of Thanksgiving necessities. Kady and Dylan had already baked 2 pies (an apple and a peanut butter), which quenched my nerves regarding the oven situation. In we went, preparing food for 20 people. We had no real plan of action, but we just moved right along from one dish to the next (and back to the first). There was no angst nor stress. We just laughed our way through and experimented. I am not one to be proud nor boastful, but I am going to say- we made an EXCELLENT team and everything was palatable. We cooked nearly everything without a recipe, naturally leading to many unavoidable taste tests. Jesus had His hands in our cooking. How often is it that you cook with 4 other people, for the first time, all having nearly the same taste for food? We prepared deviled eggs, stuffing, gravy, a pumpkin pie, a veggie tray with fresh onion dip, and of course, the turkey. Our guests brought the remaining side dished- green beans, corn, a fruit salad, cole slaw, and mashed potatoes (prepared in the same kitchen we were working). I know, the list of what we actually cooked doesn't sound so impressive, but please keep in mind, 3 small burners on the stove range, a tiny oven, and cooking for 20 people.
There is no real pressure for preparing the "perfect" Thanksgiving meal in a foreign country, right? We Americans are the only "sound" judges of the meal, right? WRONG. For the last 2 weeks, Franz has been sharing his excitement for the holiday with me. His first Thanksgiving meal, during his first visit to the States back in 1980, saved his opinion of the American kitchen; he reminded me of the story at least twice a day, every day for the last week. Not to mention, Julia who'd also experienced a real Thanksgiving in America. As far as Franz was concerned, it was ALL about "the bird" and how great "the bird" had to be. Made me sweat a little. This was my second experience roasting a turkey, and I think I have a gift for it- Bradley was delicious. Yes, I named him. When working with such a GINORMOUS beast of a bird, I couldn't help but name him. And yes, I am pretty certain it was a him.
We had delicious prosecco/sekt to start the meal with a movie-traditional toast, followed by Jason carving the halfurkey. We all really enjoyed ourselves with a nice stress-free environment from start to finish. It was a nice way to introduce the LCMI-ers to Franz and some of the other Grazers with whom they'll be interacting this next year (or so). Clean up Thursday night was minimal- refrigerating all the perishables. When the guests left, we Americans (and Josef), watched Elf with the projector. Around 2:30 a.m. we made it to bed with an agreement to take our time in the morning. By 11:30 Friday morning, we were finishing breakfast and got in gear to clean-up. Again, we made a really great team, with no stress.
It comes down to two large points. 1. Jesus had His hands in our cooking and in our entire celebration. 2. Koinonia. I am blessed with truly the greatest friends in all the world. Though we have different purposes, we have a shared vision of renewal and advancement of the Kingdom. Sadly, not all of them(you) are here in Austria with me, thus, I treasure those who are nearby. Kady and I joke that because we are from the same small town region of New York, we are practically family and, after Thanksgiving, we are definitely at LEAST cousins now. It's just such a gift to be with people of the same natural culture aiming to live the Kingdom culture within an entirely foreign culture. Thanks for coming up, guys!
What happened to the other half of the turkey? It's in the deep freezer with that remaining leg, waiting for Christmas dinner. ;-D
