Many of you know that in my other life I am a full time instructor of English as a Second Language at a community college. My students come from all over the world representing numerous languages, nationalities, ethnicities, and religions.
Chicha, Peru. This is a beverage made of purple corn and seasoned with cinnamon. A revelation in holiday beverages (no alcohol, but certainly has the potential to make a delightful cocktail!)
Since it is an intensive immersion program, we spend a lot of time together in the course of a semester. Twenty hours a week for fifteen weeks, in fact.
Fish cutlets, India. Dense, yet creamy croquettes with a flavor that is not too fishy, but robust.
So it is wonderful to be able to share that most American and most inclusive of holidays — Thanksgiving — with all of them.
Foreground: Griot, Haiti. Pork shoulder deliciousness, with savory vegetables like onion and peppers and a spicy sauce. Center: Indian fish cutlets. Back: empanadas.
It reminds me of just what a true celebration of America, its achievements, and its possibilities, Thanksgiving is.
Pupusas, El Salvador (sort of a thick, soft tortilla or arepa, stuffed with cheese, sometimes beans or meat, and topped with a Salvadoran cabbage slaw)
So after a major in-class essay-writing assignment (which I still have to grade before Monday. Yikes!), we unwrapped our potluck offerings, did a little heating up in the office microwave, (one student even plugged in her slow cooker!), and tucked in.
Top: empanadas (I am not sure where these are from actually: Perhaps one of the student who reads the blog can tell me so I can fix this?), popular all over Latin America, they are meat, cheese, or pizza stuffed pastries, and bottom, sugared peanuts from Angola.
We should’ve brought hammocks too; after this incredible feast, we had the classic Thanksgiving hangover: food coma and barely dragged ourselves through the History Channel Thanksgiving lesson.
Oven-roasted chicken, El Salvador. This was falling off the bone, juicy and delicious!
So today I am showing you some images of the feast – not the students, because I didn’t ask their permission to put their pictures on-line!
My plate!
Thanks to my wonderful, hard-working, inspiring, and fun students for this feast, especially the ones who cooked!
Hot, Cheap & Easy 
I really love the feast, it was wonderful. I enjoyed the delicious food.
I loved those sugared peanuts!!!
This food looks great. Enjoyd your post.
Thanks for the visit! Glad you enjoyed it
Thanks for the papusas! And now I see a chicha-tini or chicha-rita project in our near future…
When my first husband worked at a university in NZ we used to go to feasts like these, they were fantastic! The students just loved being able to show off food from home.. cc
They really do! it was lovely…
That looks like fabulous food and it a great idea to get everyone to join in 🙂
It was amazing and fun. The students really went all out!
How lovely! Wonderful post!
Thanks Miss M!