The Last Supper

Father Peter asked all of the international students at CSA (Catholic Student Association) to please bring dishes from our home countries to share at the International Dinner last Sunday. Wonderful. America is, definitively, a melting pot of cultures. No real ethnic food belongs specifically to America besides McDonalds, meatloaf and mac'n'cheese. Not particularly culinary masterpieces.

What to do, what to do.... ah! English breakfast, although magnificent in presentation, has some flaws. Shall cook glorious French (urgh) toast served with maple syrup, American (hoorah) bacon--cripsy, not how the English do it with meat still in a recognizable form--and a berry crumble dessert. Sensible, yet elegant. Right.

Searching for provisions at local ASDA proved more difficult than anticipated. Tiny bottles of maple syrup hiding between rows of jams, cinnamon not in the baking aisle, but rather mixed in with spices, no frozen berries so substituted with canned and to top it all off, the bacon did not look promising. Still, the two American pioneers sailed off into the north with packages to arrive at Chaplaincy extraordinarily early. Lucky us, set ourselves to cleaning the kitchen in order to make it a useful environment.

Despite best efforts to plan enough time for baking and frying, ran into massive problems when confronted with gas stove. Hmm... matches. Ah. Wet matches. Ummm... right, there we are. Oooh--well, not hot enough for bacon. OH! Too hot! Smoke! BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.... &c.

Hungry students came pouring in spot on 15 minutes before we were ready. International dinner seemed doomed to be a burnt American dinner. Only had 8 pieces of French toast and bacon enough for probably 4 hungry lumberjacks. I became, for a moment, our Lord multiplying loaves. Slice, slice, slice... Like magic, 16 steaming pieces of toast appeared on my plate. I applauded my own ingenuity. Unfortunately Father Peter not quite so impressed, for in my panic I had neglected to flip over the piece of toast, whose smoke he regarded with some concern.

Eventually more food arrived and everyone was well-fed. Thank heavens for international cooperation.