Christmas, Santa and Mashed Potatoes

  For those of us who have never been 8,000 miles from home for several years it may seem implausible that Santa bringing mashed potatoes could be the greatest Christmas gift ever...but in fact, Mama Caruso's famous mashed potatoes were the original point of our trip to Cambodia, that and to spend Christmas day with family who was very far from home. So as we were planning to come to Cambodia, we made a decision to recreate as many of our family Christmas traditions and in the process created so many more traditions for several families around the world...all within the confines of three fifty pound suitcases.

From poinsettia plates, aprons and hot pads, gingerbread houses and napkins, to Santa's sleigh bells and Rudolph's red nose and reusable snow in a can we filled the house full of laughter, wonder and family. And, I mean that literally - there was a lot of planning discussion about how many of the 20 or so of Les's family would come to the house for Christmas since the 25th of December was a work and school day just like any other in Cambodia and Christmas is not a holiday celebrated in his host family's home. We were also aware that the food I was cooking would be a great departure from the standard fare, so we planned modestly...which is a huge challenge for me who does not know how to cook small anything. We were also aware of the limitations in supplies, pans, etc - so we bought his host Mom a crock pot and put it under the six inch tall wire Christmas tree on the table. Surprises were in store for us as relatives traveled to visit and children and neighbors showed up round the clock...and to my absolute delight everyone ate the lunch meal I cooked and left the "back-up lunch" of rice and fish in the kitchen untouched. Some of our dinner guests even came back for seconds and there wasn't a leftover to be had - nothing could make me happier! Mama Caruso's internationally famous mashed potato recipe will follow.

Enjoy the pictures, they tell so many stories of a wonderful day...from my table to yours - Merry Christmas.

It looks like Santa has arrived in Kampong Speu.
Christmas in a bag...lots of small non-melting goodies fill out these tissue lined
gift bags - easy to pack and fun to distribute!

Uh oh...it looks like Rudolf might have lost something...

It takes a special person to be willing to let strangers take over their kitchen,
but Les's Host Mom was ready to go...complete with red and green mats under the
cutting blocks. Oh, and immediately after dinner I went to the market and bought
a few of those cleaver knives

Peeling and prepping the potatoes, which we found in both
the Phnom Penh and Kampong Speu markets.

Time to get the crockpot open so we can put it straight to use

Getting ready to break into the gingerbread houses for a snack
with coffee...all four of the gingerbread houses made it to Les's house
by being carried by hand on a bike

Children delight everywhere - this is one of Les's cousins.

These gingerbreadhouses are a new experience for many.

The language of cooking and laughter can transcend any spoken
language barriers. 

Cutting the milanesa so that it could be eaten in a more traditional Cambodian style.
This recipe which I will post after I get permission came from Uruguay and was the
best milanesa I have ever cooked.

Well...what do you know? Santa's elves had presents waiting for them too!

Les and Shannon with Les's host mom and dad.

Each family grouping had a gift to open...what fun, we brought a few extra just in case...
and sure enough, they were all distributed.

What is maple syrup?

Making apple crisp in the crockpot next...

One of Santa's elves along the National Highway

Can you see the little lizzard?

The swinging bridge to a riverside resort in Kampong Speu.

Monkeys are everywhere.

Meditating at the feet of the statue.

Strolling down the stairs...

Dinner of tacos brought new guests to the house

Heating the tortillas for tacos.

Hand whipping cream in the heat with a fork...but we got it done!

Teaching English and Learning Khmer

We made these gingerbread houses - all of the cookies were intact
after traveling 8,000 across the world. A fun easy activity if you are traveling
 at Christmas - I brought extra frosting to fix any damaged cookies.

First, let me begin with the correct pronunciation of the word Khmer - the word which is used to describe the people, language and culture of the people in Cambodia is pronounced (Coo my). The language has been very difficult for me to understand although my daughter Shannon has picked up some phrases and words and can now at least show respect to the people whose homeland we are being welcomed into. My nephew's Khmer is very good and he is well understood anywhere we go. It is always great to see a Cambodian's face when he begins to speak their language, and then Shannon throws in a phrase too...it really makes me proud to be in the company of such world citizens.

Christmas is not a holiday celebrated in Cambodia  although there are lights, Christmas trees and lots of Santa hats...we are a few of those "lots". People we run into are interested and in the two sessions of English Club we taught  there were many questions about Christmas..."Why do we give gifts?", "What is the relationship between Santa and Jesus?", The seventeen year old girls in the first class we taught wanted to know from me what kind of a husband I wanted for Shannon and they were very surprised to learn that although I had high hopes for someone to care for her, it didn't matter because it was her choice. That really surprised the girls since their marriages will all be arranged and they may or may not know their future husbands.

Christmas Eve Day began for us with a trip to a noodle shop for breakfast, a trip to the market to buy our lunch supplies, a bike ride to school where we sat in on two English classes - answering questions as they arose about us, to Les' home for the second of my two cooking classes, then biking back to school to teach two of the English Clubs that my nephew has organized. Our family loves to play games when we gather and I have in my suitcase three games: Nertz, cribbage and Settlers of Catan and we head back to the air-conditioned Golden House Hotel where we are calling home.

The Golden House will be reviewed in a future edition when I discuss all of the accommodations from this trip,  however, it is fairly clean and has air-conditioning - not bad for $15/night. They also have an elevator, but it was not working, so we got some great exercise walking up and down the four flights of stairs. After games, we head off to dinner and ice cream and call it a night...Santa is coming to Cambodia after all...enjoy the photos...from my table to yours...

Les's host Mom is riding on the back of the lead bike as we head off to breakfast.

Kathy, Shannon and Les' Host Mom who was willing to take this picture...
even though I learned later that it is not good to take photos of three people.

Kathy's breakfast - I added lots of sugar at Les' host Mom's suggestion.

Shannon's breakfast - she said it was delicious and did not add sugar.

Now this donut dipped in sugar then dunked in the thimble of coffee was divine.

Although it is early morning at the market - it is already steamy and hot.

It took a long time at the market because Les' host Mom introduced us to all
of her vendors, one gave her something for me to thank us for being there...
...and because I groaned in delight at the coffee in a bag the vendor had just made for me.

Everything is so freah.

I wish  had time to cook with these!

This device scrapes the coconut meat out of the coconut and shreds
it into finely shredded coconut meat for our curry. One coconut nets about 3-4 cups of  meat.

Coffee!

 

Settler's of Catan board all set up ready to play.

These girls are captivated by Shannon, who is their same age.

How far away is Minnesota????

The three Christmas trees outside of the White Elephant Restaurant

Traveling to Kampong Speu...With 30 of My Closest Friends

Dragon fruit

This little girl just wanted to touch
Shannon's beautiful skin.

One of our seatmates on the van ride

This morning started with a quick shopping trip to get the final supplies for the Christmas dinner I will be cooking in Les' town, Kampong Speu and then off to catch a van to take us there...loaded with all of our holiday surprises. Within my luggage is a surprise gingerbread house making kit and I think that the biggest surprise will be if any of the cookies made it 9,500 miles intact.

At the market in Kampong Speu...

We were lucky to be some of the first people to get into the van which waited until it was full to leave. I learned that the answer to the question, "how many people can fit into a minivan?" is..."one more." And, one more and one more and one more again.

Les' bread lady

 Between the three of us we came to the closest consensus at thirty people - quite an experience considering the van was not air-conditioned during our two hour ride. But the price was right, we had to pay for an extra person because we had so much luggage and the entire trip cost $6 USD - so I guess it all balanced out. Our luggage was tied into the van and the scenery along the way kept us entertained along with the music videos playing from the DVD in the front.

The dreaded durian

Once in Kamping Speu we checking into the Golden House on the National Highway and were told that the elevator was not working, which didn't break my heart since I have huge reservations about getting into an elevator in countries where the electricity may not be stable - I have been stuck more than once in elevators when the electricity went out...NOT a pleasant experience at the time, but a great story later!

We have rented bikes locally and get a chance to meet some of Les' friends. But the real highlight of the day was spending time with his host family...cooking, laughing telling stories using a lot of international charades, teaching each other words from our respective languages and just spending some high quality time with family. Shannon's Khmer language skills are earning her high marks with all.

A delicious rice and coconut cake
cooked in banana leaves

This is our transportation

We had the best Khmer Curry Noodles and tomorrow I am taking a trip to the market to learn about all of the ingredients and to stock up for my cooking lesson tomorrow. Their hospitality has been second to none and spending time with them has given me an opportunity to talk with native Cambodians and really learn so much about the culture, people and history. We are so fortunate to have this opportunity.

 Back to our hotel for a Christmas surprise...in more ways than one...all of the  gingerbread cookies made it and the next session of fun begins as Les and Shannon build, decorate and eat the gingerbread houses. Enjoy the pictures and as always...bringing food and travel from my table to yours...no matter where those tables may be.