Unusual Holiday Meals

[Claire]

I really think that I'm missing something, there must be a better place to post this. Someone will help and move me, I'm sure.

Here is the question: What is the most unusual place where you have experienced or cooked a (for you) traditional holiday meal? What did you eat? How did it differ from the holidays of your previous experiences? What surprised you the most? I have a couple of experiences I will write about, but many of you are more well traveled than I. Tell us about it.

 

[Claire]

My first is going to be the story of my real Hawaiian luau Christmas Eve. It came out of the blue, a local family invited us to celebrate with them on what was then an area where haoles really didn't go. The family had an acre where they grew papayas, mangos, plumeria (frangi-pani), and much of what they needed. The extended family lived on about an acre, in what they referred to as "where God lost his overshoes". It was in an area right before the roads stopped (in those days).

I told our hosts that I had a couple of guests for the holidays, and we regretfully (very much so) declined. They insisted we bring the guests along, as long as I prepared a traditional dish from MY Christmas eve tradition.

Tourtiere to the rescue! Pork pie! They loved it!

Our hosts' daughters (it is hard to place it, there were 3, maybe four, generations living on this acre of paradise) performed a hula for us (if you haven't lived there, hula isn't something that was just for tourists, most we knew learned it). We had a game of pictionary where a family of Japanese got messed up because they couldn't tell Rs from Ls. We fell in each other's arms laughing. It was a lovely experience that I will never, ever forget.