Everybody Goes "Awww": Two Turkeys, Broccoli Casserole, And A Lot Of Hostelites

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - It's Thanksgiving Day. I wake up relatively early and head out into the common area. Chris is up and ready to go. He's at the front desk but adamant about making crepes. It's going to happen today.

Quetzal is the resident crepe-maker (I looked for the word for "one who makes crepes", but there doesn't seem to be one). Unfortunately, she hasn't made any since I showed back up. So, Chris is on a mission.

Somehow, I get suckered into attempting the first batch. Not good.

I couldn't get the heat right. They kept getting dark on one side while soggy on the other. And don't even let me get into trying to flip one of those things. Terrible.

My best attempt comes out looking like scrambled eggs and hash browns all in one gooey mess. But, I'm hungry, so I throw some syrup on it anyway and chow down. Not bad even if it was a horror to look at.

Chris and I head out to the only little shop open that was selling milk in Chinatown. He needs more to make a new batch of batter (we screwed up all the batter that was prepared the day before). After that, I head out to grab some necessary supplies for the day of cooking ahead.

I manage to catch a ride with this guy Lincoln who was staying at the hostel. Or so I was led to believe.

After getting back, he decided to stay downstairs. Shortly thereafter, some of the staff were trying to figure out what bed he and his friend were staying in. For some reason, they had been switching beds every night. Turns out, he hasn't paid for a bed in a few nights. Neither one of them. They kept their keys and never checked out. This was overlooked. But not anymore. Dave was pissed and banned them for life. Oh well, thanks for the ride, pal.

When I get back, I find out Chris has become a master, uh, crepe-maker while I've been gone. He's pumped and flipping them like a pro.

This ends up being a long process. The crepes are being kept in the toaster oven on low until they are all finished. Through this all, others are making potatoes and other dishes. I'm working on the World Famous Broccoli Casserole, dicing Velveeta and choppin' broccoli. Chris is taking small breaks to deal with hostel issues because he's on duty through this all.

We finally sit down for a crepe feast and it's worth the wait. Hell, I don't even know the last time I've had a crepe (not counting my disaster earlier in the morning).

It's great. Now, after an early afternoon feast (this all took a lot of time), everyone has gone into a crepe frenzy.

I end up spending the rest of the afternoon working on the blog. It takes forever and I get really frustrated with Photobucket.

Later in the afternoon the cooking really gets going. People are crammed into the tiny kitchen, trying to prepare dishes with the minimal space and supplies available. I finish putting the broccoli casserole together at the front desk.

We also have a problem with the cooking situation.

We have no oven.

There is a small toaster over though and this is being utilized in some pretty creative ways. the two turkeys we have are being cooked at a house on the other side of the city.

I'm not sure when the turkeys are going to be back, so I'm holding out on cooking the casserole. I want it to be piping hot when dinner is served.

After waiting for a long time (patiently, of course), I decide that others are done cooking pies. Pies are for dessert. Casserole is for dinner. Pies are out. I'm in.

The toaster over takes considerably longer than expected to cook. This is about the point where we realize we have five forks in the entire hostel. Yes. Five. It's already a problem on typical days.

This is Thanksgiving. There are 25-plus hungry hostelites. Time to avert a crisis.

I head out with Chris, Quetzal, and British Chris. We hit Chinatown in search of utensils. We have several requests at the hostel for chopsticks. This is going to be an interesting meal. Good thing we're in Chinatown. We're not sure where we're going to find a shop to buy a bunch of plastic utensils this late on Thanksgiving.

British Chris tells us to hold on for a second and he darts into a restaurant. A couple minutes later, he emerges with a plastic back chock full of chopsticks and plastic forks. He tells us it took some convincing, but he was able to get the whole bag for free.

We're winners.

Back at the hostel, I pull out one casserole dish and throw another into the toaster over. I have to contort the disposable pan a little to make it fit, but it does.

We're doing a lot of snacking in anticipation of the feast. While at the store earlier, I picked up some cheese balls and these seemed to be a hit. All the crackers were gone by now though. Things are getting desperate.

I get on the phone and start making holiday phone calls to ignore the hunger pangs. I'm way behind on calls because I've been busy all day. I'm trying to call back the text messengers first so people don't end up upset. The family. I have 40 people on my list of "to calls." Things aren't looking good to get around to everyone.

I enjoy the phone calls. Some people I haven't talked to since I started this trip. It's nice to catch up.

But then the turkeys arrive.

You know what happens with pets when it's dinner time and you crack open a can or open a bag of pet food? When they all come running and herd around you? They won't let you move and get to a place where you can actually feed them. Now pictures this with a room full of alleged adults and two turkeys.

Everyone forms a line and plates are being passed out. Staff goes first of course and I get to dig in fairly early. I can't get a shot of the beautiful casserole before spoonfuls are carved out. The feast begins.