Thanksgiving has never been one of my favorite holidays.  When I look back on how we spent it every year as a family, I can certainly see why.

In case you don’t already know, I’m Chinese.  Growing up in South Florida, many of my friends often referred to me as a “banana”- yellow on the outside, but white on the inside.  Upon meeting me, it’s obvious I’m Asian.  However, my Cantonese is lousy and I have an unhealthy relationship with pizza and hot wings.  Despite my very Chinese parents, I’m guessing this has to do with me being born and raised in the U.S.

Every Thanksgiving when my friends and neighbors scattered off to their dining tables, most had signature pies, green bean casseroles, sweet candied yams, and of course, a traditional golden, brown turkey from the oven.  Friends and family would all sit around a table, laughing and boasting about how creamy the mashed potatoes were.

My Thanksgiving pasts?

Heaping bowls of rice, fungus resembling hair with mushrooms, clear noodles, and of course a traditional chicken.  Boiled, sliced, with it’s head staring back at me from the platter.  Oh, and soy sauce, plenty of soy sauce for dipping.  My family that hovered around a folding table in the middle of a living room comprised of at least a dozen elderly relatives.  My mom, brother and I were the only ones under the age of 60 (my father worked Thanksgiving Day).

Sitting in a living room crammed full of older Chinese folks yammering in Cantonese wasn’t exactly fun for a little girl.  Not that the food wasn’t delicious.  I just didn’t have much to do.  I’d sit and watch everyone scoop rice and try my best to answer if anyone spoke to me in Cantonese.  Among the clamoring of chopsticks and conversation, I often broke free to sit on their matted, green shag rug to watch a football game on the wooden console TV.  My mind would wander off, wondering how sweet yams tasted with a touch of brown sugar and tiny marshmallows on top. Or what was a “casserole” exactly? And did people actually cook stuffing inside of a turkey?

I never knew these things. (more…)