Thanksgiving in Indonesia 2023

Thanksgiving Table
Thanksgiving Table

While living overseas, I like to share our American culture with others.  (Last year we had just arrived, so it was just the two of us…and the cable company) This year, I invited the Cub Scouts to celebrate Thanksgiving in Indonesia with us.  Although this group is multinational, none previously had the opportunity to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast.We met up at the Kite Museum for a tour and making kites to knock out the last requirement for the Art Explosion elective, and then we all caravanned to my place for lunch.

Webelos Scouts celebrating Thanksgiving in Indonesia
Webelos Scouts celebrating Thanksgiving in Indonesia

We met up at the Kite Museum for a tour and making kites to knock out the last requirement for the Art Explosion elective, and then we all caravanned to my place for lunch.

Thanksgiving place setting with place card and menu card
Thanksgiving place setting with place card and menu card
Webelos Scout parent volunteers - carving the turkey
Webelos Scout parent volunteers – carving the turkey

Upon arrival, the kids attempted to fly their kites outside and played at the neighborhood playground, while the grown ups got everything set up inside.  We had some snacks set out:  roasted cashews, cinnamon spiced almonds, cheddar cheese, apple slices, green olives, and pita crackers.  Some noshed while others carved the turkey, poured juice for the kiddos, and pulled the side dishes out of the oven.

When everything was ready, we gathered in the living room to quickly share our Thanksgiving traditions and the feast began!

Thanksgiving Lunch
Thanksgiving Lunch

We had roasted turkey, sage stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn pudding, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, green salad, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and chocolate chip cookies.

The kids sat at the kids table in the family room.  They were all so well behaved.  They were adventurous in trying new foods, and they even put their plates in the kitchen when they were finished eating!

Homemade Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie
Homemade Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie
Enjoying the turkey after a busy morning making and flying kites
Enjoying the turkey after a busy morning making and flying kites

At the adult table, we took turns sharing a few things that we are thankful for.  I think everyone was thankful for Cub Scouts – the opportunity to spend quality time with their children as well as having the opportunity to meet people outside of their normal/natural circle of friends. 

Now that our second Thanksgiving in Indonesia is a wrap…I think it is time to put up the Christmas tree!

Diwali 2023

Carrot Halwa and Gulab Jamun

Celebrating Diwali in Indonesia

To help Jackson celebrate his Indian heritage, I invited a few friends for lunch to celebrate the Indian festival of Diwali.

Harold the Hedgehog joins us

After I sent out the invitations, Jackson’s teacher asked if he could take Harold the Hedgehog home for the weekend.  Harold is the class pet, and the kids sign up to take care of him on the weekends.  Harold was here to help us celebrate as well!

Harold the Hedgehog celebrating Diwali in Indonesia
Harold the Hedgehog

Several of our guests had been to India before.  One did the ‘Rickshaw Run’ and traveled around India by motorized rickshaw.  He was also in Chennai as part of his Semester at Sea program.  Another backpacked through India over a summer.  We enjoyed reminiscing about our times there.  The kids just played.  Coloring, Lego, hide and go seek.  They finally went outside to the neighborhood playground!

For drinks, we had lime sodas, lemonade, and chai (spiced tea).

We started with Samosas.  A fried pastry filled with potatoes, peas, and lots of spices. 

We then had chicken biriyani (chicken and rice), chicken tikka masala (grilled chicken in a spicy tomato sauce), and palak paneer (paneer is a type of Indian cheese.  The paneer was covered in a spinach cream sauce).

And for sweets we had galub jamun (like a donut hole soaked in sugar syrup with saffron and cardamom for flavor), Carrot Halwa (carrots cooked in sweetened milk, with golden raisins and cashews, and more cardamom), and Kaju Katli (cashew fudge – flavored with even more cardamom!)

I struggled with whether I really wanted to pull this off so soon after Halloween and before Thanksgiving.  I just went for it and am glad that I did. 

Halloween in Indonesia – 2023

What a fun time we had for our second Halloween in Indonesia – decorating, pumpkin carving, and trick or treating!

Halloween Decorations

Restraining myself, I waited until mid-October to pull out the Halloween decorations!  I reused many of the items from our Harry Potter birthday party, taped paper bats to the windows, hung a black feather wreath on the front door, and pulled out my spider web door mat and skeleton dishes that I picked up at Kirklands last year, while I was in the U.S.  (squeezing everything into my suitcases!)

Bat-decorations-on-window
Stacked-Skeleton-Plates
rinted-Trick-or-Treat-invitation-to-the-neighborhood-Halloween-Gathering

We made a special trip to the fancy grocery store in search of a pumpkin for carving – and we felt so lucky when we found one!  We took it home and carved it the very next day.  My Indonesian colleague was so intrigued with this real pumpkin that looked just like my fake Halloween pumpkins!! I showed her how we scooped out the insides…this one was definitely real!

I even used an actual recipe to roast the pumpkin seeds.  I’ve never added more than just oil and salt, but this time I added garlic powder, pepper, and some chili powder (I was out of the paprika that the recipe called for).  They turned out quite nice. 

Pumpkin Carving

umpkin-with-top-removed-and-seeds-and-pulp-scooped-out-onto-the-table
Carving-the-Jack-o-Lantern
Seasoned-Pumpkin-Seeds-ready-for-Toasting
Carved-Jack-o-Lantern-with-Halloween-Decorations

Trick or Treating

The neighbors stopped in after the kids were done trick or treating and I whipped up a pitcher of my ‘go to’ red wine sangria – it really fit the Halloween theme, a Texas Sheet cake – enough chocolate cake for a crowd – with purple and orange confetti sprinkles on top! I love this butter toffee popcorn recipe. I made two batches. The first batch was crispy, buttery, and delicious. Unfortunately, it was late when I made the second batch. I took the tray out of the oven to cool, and went to bed. When I got up the next morning, the popcorn went soft – the humidity here was just too much. I did put the popcorn in a ziplock bag with a slice of bread, to see if that would help…but it didn’t.

Well, we couldn’t have ALL sweets, so we also had the Pioneer Woman’s Nachos. I made these for my dad for dinner last summer (I told him it was taco salad!) and he could not get enough of them! I had the same reaction here on Halloween. My neighbors gobbled them up! This recipe is definitely a keeper!

We also had the roasted pumpkin seeds, fresh watermelon slices, and ice-cold lemonade for the thirsty trick or treaters.

Dripping-Wax-Candles-on-wall-candelabra-
Halloween-Urli-Flower-bowl-with-flowers-and-candles
Blurred-Halloween-Buffet
Texas-Sheet-Cake-with-Halloween-Sprinkles-and-Butter-Toffee-popcorn-in-a-glass-jar
Sorting-Halloween-Candy-Stash

Our second Halloween in Indonesia will be hard to top next year!!