Because Thanksgiving is not a recognized holiday here in Belize, we decided to celebrate it on the following Sunday.  We got a 16 pound turkey which cost approximately $25.00 US—what a shock to the system!  Most of our Belizean friends had never had a turkey cooked the way we do it and were dubious about how good it would be.  With a lot of effort we found most of the fixings to go along with the dinner.  No pre-packaged stuffing mix, we had to make our own from scratch.  I like to make cornbread dressing but I couldn’t find any cornmeal in Corozal or in Chetumal.  Plan B:  Make bread stuffing with all the additional things, like celery, onion and water chestnuts.  It turned out just fine. We found large cooking bags at the local gringo store, so we knew the turkey would be nice and moist.  We suspect that the Belizeans usually overcook it and so that is why they say “it’s really tough”. 

On Sunday morning we got up early,  stuffed the turkey, put it in the bag, and drove down to our family’s house to put it in the oven (we don’t have a big enuf oven).  Theresa’s eyes got so big when she saw us put that turkey in the oven in a plastic bag; she could hardly believe that it would not melt or burn up.  (No one, but no one puts plastic bags in an oven.)  It took some doing but we reassured them that it was made for the oven and would not melt or burn. We returned home, got ready and went to church, picked up the rest of the fixing’s and hurried back to the family’s house.  The turkey was done and the marathon began.  The burners on the stove need adjusting so the potatoes took the longest time to cook,  but our plans were finally coming together. 

SIDEBAR:  HOUSING CONSTRUCTION,  The family has always had a kitchen-dining room combination in the back of the house that worked pretty well for all of our previous eating excursions.  The house only has two bedrooms so Cris and Teresa have one and the five kids share the other, with a set of bunk beds, a studio and a double crammed in together. Barely  enough room to walk around the beds. Aruny, the oldest son, now a customs officer in Belize City, decided to spend some of his new income on a drastic housing mod.  He took what was the dining room half of their big back room and walled off and turned it into a third bedroom.  We arrived to find the dining room table in the middle of the 8X8 space which is all that’s left of the kitchen area. .

In order to preparing the balance of dinner, we moved the dining room table out into the back yard. Only in Belize could you do that.  With the sun shining brightly, we moved the chairs out and put them around the table. The kids pitched in, mashing potatoes with vigor, stirring the gravy, pouring water and making orange drink.  I made up some biscuit dough and we put it on top of the stewed apples we had prepared, and we put the lid on that, leaving it to cook for another fifteen minutes.

All the relatives and friends (10 of them) gathered to wait outside. Finally, Rick started carving the turkey and I started giving them little bites of turkey to sample.  Their expressions were at first dubious, and then delighted as they realized that it really tasted good.  Pretty soon we had bones disappearing, As we cut the meat off the drumsticks and thighs they grabbed the bones and nibbled away.  Although we served big plates of food outside, the kids kept sneaking back in and picking at the carcass.  We originally thought that we would show them how to make turkey soup from the carcass;  no such luck.  There wasn’t enough to take home to the cats, much less make a good broth.

When we served up the plates, Cris was concerned that we didn’t have bread or tortillas to eat with. The Belizeans typically use a tortilla or a piece of bread as a eating utensil.  I explained that it really wasn’t needed as the stuffing was made from bread, and we had the mashed potatoes.  They were pretty dubious about the gravy, only took a little on their plates, but when they tasted it they were hooked.  (Rick thought it was the best gravy he’s every made - all six cups of it!) They all came back and got seconds and thirds on gravy, turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Zenny the middle daughter, went off to the mini-mart for bread and she and her sisters each had several slices with dinner, demolishing two loaves in record time.   They topped that off with a serving of “Apple Grunt”.

Cris said to me that he didn’t think that would be enough dinner but he was really full, and EVERYONE looked full and happy.  Just as we finished eating,  it clouded over and we got one of our typical Belizean rainstorms -about half an inch in five minutes - so we quickly moved everything inside, and started cleaning up.  As usual, the guys all yawned and needed a nap after dinner.  The women did the dishes (what else is new) and visited.  The big difference was that the guys weren’t sitting around the T.V. set watching football.  Ed and Rick took a nap. 

Cris and I sat and talked about the differences between life in Belize and life in the States.  He was appalled that most women had to work full time and have day care centers or babysitters take care of the children.  We chatted about the things that Americans take for granted, like hot water heaters, dishwashers, washing machines and dryers.  He could hardly believe that almost everyone in the States has a hot water heater and indoor bathrooms. As we’ve said before, most Belizeans don’t have a lot of what they consider luxuries.  But they do have large, loving families, and the wife rarely works, so they have lots of “togetherness,” and a lot to be thankful for.

Theresa is already talking about doing a turkey dinner for Christmas. Six months ago, when we first started fixing American style food for them, they would say “that’s nice” and we weren’t to sure if they liked it.  We have since found out that “that’s nice” is THE big compliment in Belize.  All in all it was a great dinner. As always, our new life in Belize is different and full of adventures. We are thankful that we have good health and can be retired here and have the time to enjoy life.

Mees Charlotte

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