New York- Being a Nepali guy and not a particularly religious person, I had never celebrated Christmas, but this year Margaret, my Quaker wife (whose religion opposes any form of war or violence) wanted to show me what a Christmas Day party can look like.

Margaret and I with our Nepalese and American friends. Photo: Wendy Bass.

I agreed, and we invited some of our Nepalese and American friends to celebrate Christmas with us.

It was amazing for me to discover how a different religious festivity can also be fun and life-learning lesson.

Margaret, who is British by birth and holds U.S. citizenship, prepared several dishes that are new to me. My contribution was cashew pulav which I learned at Ayurvedic cooking classes in India. Actually, Margaret had been baking cookies and pies for a week!

Renu Sapkota, Margaret Carne-Thapa, Mridula Koirala, Sandhya Parajuli and Priya Koirala. Photo: eEyecam.com

The party began with “hors d’oevres” (starters) of onion marmalade, dried green beans,  chickpea-carrot-cilantro salad, cucumber, assorted olives and crackers.

Beverages were soft drinks and wine.

The main course consisted of traditional roast turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes seasoned with ginger, cardamom and maple syrup,  curried brussel sprouts and chestnuts, root vegetable mash (parsnip/carrot/turnip), and of course, my cashew pulav.

We took a break before dessert to exchange gifts.

Margaret’s homemade desserts were pumpkin pie with cream, buttermilk pie (my favorite) and 4 kinds of cookies.

The hit of the after dinner drinks was the famous Baileys.

We enjoy the company of our guests and watching them enjoy the British-American Christmas tradition.

While I was learning to be a host and assistant cook, it was tough as Margaret found me a resistant student. That’s why I told our guests that our meal is seasoned with love and little fight-but they complimented us never-the-less.

Wow, what a wonderful Christmas Day party! Happy Christmas to you all.

-Pradeep Thapa in Jersey City, New jersey, USA

Find out more at: http://twitter.com/pradeepthapa; & pradeepthapa.com

Shlesma Parajuli, Pragya Sapkota, Priyanka Thapa and Anupama Sapkota. Photo: eEyecam.com

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