Haitianista

Haitian Thanksgiving?

I offered a few nods this past week, but when someone asked me if I was having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I thought, well yes, because what would be a Haitian Thanksgiving dinner anyway? In Haiti, my family always celebrated Thanksgiving, but my parents just carried that over from living in New York for about two decades. It is not a holiday that Haiti celebrates, especially when I’m thinking their recollection of the original version of the explorers ‘visiting’ with the Indians is not spiced and glazed, but rather still tastes a bit salty and raw.
I had 17 guests sitting on my mix matched chairs. The Jones, Czerniejewski’s, Solages’, and Thomas’ (to name a few) got along just as well. My little one collected leaves from a tree, wrote everyone’s name with a sharpie pen and organized the seating arrangement. All of my staples were juxtaposed on two long tables, so I suppose that’s a nod to Haitian service where food was generally presented in the center of the table as opposed to buffet style in a separate room. The scheme of gold, and umbers accentuated the season and all the dishes were doubled, flanking the turkey to minimize the passing situation.
Usually I throw in a couple new dishes, up for review by the guests to see if they are deemed worthy of gracing the table next year. Fortunately for the homemade apple pie, and the veggie stuffing (sans bread), they did not get chopped, and both survived to be cooked another season. I know they say never to try a new recipe when you have a dinner party, but how else will I know? I need varied opinions. Criticism and crap talking-welcome.
The corn souffle (yellow) has been a hit for years. So has the tomato-mixed peppers-basil-feta salad (red/green/orange/yellow). The amber tones of the rosemary infused biscuits lay ensconced in Italian linen in a woven basket, the beautiful garnet color of the homemade cranberry sauce sat in a footed octagonal dish, the tangy bite of the citrus glazed carrots received some heat from a dash of grated ginger, and the stuffing consisted of potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and walnuts slow simmered in a sage and bay leaf infused broth. My turkey lounged on a bed of sage, thyme, rosemary and celery, while the bubbles and wine passed overhead. I had another nod to Haiti with a bowl of mushroom rice (Djondjon) along with a coconut, milk pudding type dessert called Blanc Mange, except mine was slathered with an apple cranberry pie topping.
It was a wonderful day. My hubby was amazed at how everything was placed on the table on time and piping hot. Many years ago, I just planned backwards (removal from oven to prep time) from the time I wanted to serve, and most chopping prep work was completed, labeled and lay stacked in Ziploc bags in the fridge from the night before. This year, I heard Alton Brown say the same thing, so I know I’m not completely obsessively organized, it’s just how things are done.