Pumpkin Pie Party
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: Happy Thanksgiving
Sunday, Nov. 30th

Well, I got brave and had my first get-together this weekend. Since the turning of Halloween and then Thanksgiving in the states I was definitely getting the urge to cook and more specifically to bake. When I discovered that most of my Japanese friends had heard of pumpkin pie but had never tried it, that gave me the courage to try to get a gathering together.

First task was finding pumpkin. I haven't seen anything that looks exactly like a pumpkin in the markets here so my first attempt was with some baked yams. I tried "pumpkin" bread at first. That was successful after figuring out how to use the microwave/oven/toaster. The first loaf was a bit burned on top then I discovered that I had the oven rack in upside down. sumimasen. Next, Connie and David brought a couple of cans of pumpkin home. So the next pumpkin bread was authentic and very yummy. Then I discovered that a friend from Bangladesh had never even heard of pumpkin! Oh, my gosh, I gotta have friends over and introduce them to a taste sensation.

So, the next step is finding more pumpkin. I found all I needed in Sannomiya (which is in Kobe). I invited about 20 folks thinking that I would get about 10 people to show up. Well, Didik invited his girlfriend and she invited her sister. Didik also invited Troy, our Australian friend who came along for birthday dinner at the beginning of the month. It seems like a lot of folks decided to bring friends to try the pie. Luckily, I got the idea early on that this may be a popular party so I baked 5 pies and 4 mini's on Saturday. David actually had to go out and buy another Pyrex pan. I baked one at a time in two ovens (David's downstairs) and mine. It took about 4-5 hours but, boy, was it worth it.

Didik and his friends arrived early on Sunday. He whipped the whip cream for me. (I actually found powdered whip cream, just add milk and whip!) Didik also set up my computer to the boombox and played DJ for the entire time. Everyone chipped in making coffee and cutting pie. Miwa brought a present (a Japanese card game) Some of us English speakers got to test our knowledge of hiragana with the cards. Yuko and Yoshiki brought their two little girls so we had a coloring activity in one room. My teacher friends enjoyed working with these two cuties.

All and all a very fun Sunday afternoon.
I think I will do this again!