As room mates discussion of a fall festival / housewarming gig had been going on for quite a while and we had finally been here long enough to have enough friends to invite. Our inspiration was autumnal to say the least, cooking with everything we could that was in season and bought from the local markets and produce stands. A few days before the party the menu was sent out as the invitation via email and printed for local neighbors and stuck in their mailboxes if we couldn't find them.
The morning of the event I walked out into the kitchen where I had found that my room mate Felix had gridded off the kitchen cabinets with post it notes describing in detail the timing in which all the cooking was going to occur. Rubbing my eyes I opened the fridge to see it packed out with everything that could be prepped, chopped, marinating, washed, and measured. I went back to bed.
The day flew by and Ivy (third room mate) and I set off with a mission to bring back small pumpkins for carving. The smallest ones we could find weighed in at about 12 pounds each. Hauling our prizes home we got some strange looks from passers by. It wasn't after I got the key into the front door when our first guests began to arrive.
From there the party began to take off. People from all sides of our lives gathered in our warm living room and kitchen as we prepared chapati, home-made caramel, african peanut soup, and roasted chicken. The eight of us huddled around our four person kitchen table and feasted together. One of our friends asked us - "So, how do you all know every one?" We exchanged funny looks and all laughed at the incredible connections that sat around the table. We went around in a circle telling each of our stories and how we met people in the group. It symbolized a lot for me - How we are all in this together, for each other, and how we meant to love and feast together.
After our feast I began scrapping out the pumpkins. It reminded me of all the times I watched my father scooping out the seeds as we watched as little girls from across the kitchen counter. Pumpkin carving has been a tradition in my family for as long as i can remember and tonight I got to share this tradition with my new friends and neighbors. Many hadn't ever carved a pumpkin before.
As these squash were hallowed out they turned into murals of light representing the laughter and warmth shared with one another. After most of the guests had gone my room mates and I put them on our porch with candles in them and ran outside.
We hope to have a feast for every season.
No comments:
Post a Comment