And Wow; it was a great pageant. They had a parade and flag ceremony, and a demonstration of martial arts, and 2 Chinese dragons. We had a luncheon to start - each grade had a pot luck together. We were supposed to bring something from our country, and it was supposed to be finger food. I was a little stumped- what's a typical American finger food? Small PB&J sandwiches? Seemed boring, especially knowing all those Asian moms would make something amazing and beautiful. I asked Jack what we should make, and he wanted to make um... Chinese dumplings. I broke the news to him, "Sweetie, we're not Chinese." :-) He didn't care; that's what he wanted.
And then I thought about it- most "American" food is really from somewhere else. We have inherited the best food traditions from everyone who came to the US and brought their favorites with them from "home". And so-- Why not? I make a pretty good dumpling, if I do say so myself. I also made some cupcakes, because I think those are unique to the US and pretty and fun to eat.
And then I thought about it- most "American" food is really from somewhere else. We have inherited the best food traditions from everyone who came to the US and brought their favorites with them from "home". And so-- Why not? I make a pretty good dumpling, if I do say so myself. I also made some cupcakes, because I think those are unique to the US and pretty and fun to eat.
SO-- here's the food:
Do you spot it? Right next to the very lovely caprese salad, the Ugly American rears it's ugly head. Somebody brought a bucket of chicken and fries from KFC. They came early and ditched it, so as not to be shamed. That's my guess anyway. We unloaded the bucket and put it on some plates at least, but it was still pretty unappetizing. My dumplings are to the left of the KFC, and there was some lovely sushi-like thing (still wrapped in this picture) and some Swedish meatballs, from real Swedes, and (in the picture below) there was a plate of little Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches, and some pita bread and hummus, and lots of things I couldn't identify at all.
The dessert table was interesting too. These looked so beautiful; Russian I'm assuming, based on the flag, and the Russian dolls.
The cups have a Hungarian dessert gesztenyepüré , that is shredded chestnut paste and creme. The waffle cookies are German, and next to them was some cake that had corn in it. (Not so good; corn just doesn't belong in cake, in my opinion) My cupcakes were a big hit-- all gone by half way through lunch. Also, there were several iterations of chocolate chip cookies.
It was a beautiful lunch, and builds the sense of community where most of us are far from home and friends and family.
4 comments:
Yum!!! I love those kind of spreads - when I was teaching ESL we'd often wind up the semester with a multicultural lunch and with students usually from Korea, Brazil, Japan, Slovakia, Taiwan and Colombia we had a great mix of food.
Your dumplings look excellent, by the way!!
(Rewinding from the Fibro).
I once had to bring a plate of food from our "culture" to a function for my daughter. I really struggled to identify my culture and even if I could, I couldn't really identify a corresponding cuisine. I brought homemade yoyo biscuits. The staff looked at me quizzically as I placed them on the table with all those beautiful ethnic dishes. I like to think the person who brought KFC was similarly overwhelmed by the task. Otherwise it's pretty sad.
That is making me hungry! I love trying foods from everywhere.
Wow- what a fabulous feast. Food is a wonderful thing to bring a community together.
Thanks for Rewinding at the Fibro.
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