In a weird year, Thanksgiving is going to be different. I didn't travel, which I haven't done in a few years but I had always had friends to share the meal with. I had to figure out what to do on my own and I wanted a proper meal. It turned out to be challenging to find places selling single meals instead of for 4 to 6.
As I was feeling fairly sorry for myself, I saw a note from my friend Tricia about volunteering as a Thanksgiving meal driver for Project Angel Food. I decided that I needed to help others to remind myself of what I have to be grateful for.
Shortly after signing up for PAF, I found a menu from a highly rated and fairly new restaurant that I hadn't tried before. Pasjoli was selling individual meals and their dessert was a pumpkin Basque cheesecake. Perfect! I don't much like pumpkin pie.
As Thanksgiving approached I was pleasantly surprised by the organized and informative emails I was receiving from PAF. Many non-profits fall down on this front. In the morning, I headed to the meal pick up location. After some initial confusion approaching the location, I got my car into the line. First stop, make sure they have the paperwork they need (waivers, DL, insurance). Second stop, get the address list and a paper with the number of meals on my windshield. Third stop, get the meals loaded in my trunk.
Before heading to the first stop, I pulled over to check the locations on the list. They are all clustered together in Koreatown and mid Wilshire. Aside from some parking issues, three of the deliveries went smoothly. One person was not at home. I left their meals with a neighbour who didn't speak English but looked like had at least one child. It took a couple of hours and I walked more than I anticipated.
In the afternoon, I hopped on a Zoom call with Wilson and Ming and Mei's family. It was nice to see them all, Penny and Oliver have grown so much.
I had made arrangements with my neighbours Jasmin and Michael to eat together down by our fire pit. They canceled their travel plans last minute. About a half hour prior, I heated up the oven to warm up the turkey, stuffing, potatoes gratin, and green beans. Truffle gravy and cranberries warm up briefly in the microwave. Rolls get heated through in the oven, everything gets tossed on a plate.
I brought down a bottle of 'FU Twenty Twenty' rose to share, which turned out really delicious! And the meal, so good! I definitely need to add Pasjoli to my takeaway list. They have a Xmas and a NYE menu as well. Need to think about that.😁
I finished with the pumpkin cheesecake with creme fraiche and caramel sauce.
Turns out, it was a pretty great Thanksgiving and I do have a lot to be grateful for.
