Our Thanksgiving Adventure

Our Thanksgiving Adventure!

We were invited by a couple (Linda and Gilbert Miles -  that come to the temple every Tuesday) to come to their home on Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  They own two Bed and Breakfast cabins and wanted us to spend the night and part of the next day with them.  So on Wednesday, after we finished our temple shift, we left to make the 2 plus hour drive to Pahoa on the Hilo side of the island.  We arrived there about 4:30 PM.  Linda had made pumpkin pies and we enjoyed a slice of  delicious pie and then they helped us take our things to our room for the night. 

This is a picture of our room

After we unloaded our stuff and changed clothes, we then piled into their pickup truck to go to see an imu created. Probably you know what an imu is, but just in case you've never heard of one, in Hawaii, it is an underground oven in which meat and vegetables are cooked, traditionally by means of heated stones covered with vegetation.  Kalua pig is typically cooked this way for a Luau.  Linda and Gilbert's ward helps put together an imu every Thanksgiving to cook the ward's turkeys and other meats.  So,back to our story - we arrived at Clinton's home(Clinton is a member of the Pahoa Ward and has the perfect set up for an imu).

Clinton is an experienced maker of imus and he supervised the whole process.  Preserving this old Hawaiian tradition and method of cooking is important to Clinton and he was happy to see the teens and kids involved so that they could learn and keep this tradition alive!

 Many of the ward members had already brought their turkeys when we arrived at about 5:00 PM.  Pans full of meat continued to arrive for the next 4 hours!

The imu fire had already been started.  A 4 foot deep hole was dug under the concrete, wood was placed, the fire started and the lava rocks were piled on top.

In preparation, bamboo stump was sliced, ti leaves and banana leaves were gathered.  Everything was ready to be put together when the rocks were red hot.

Adults, children and youth of the Pahoa ward had gathered.

The pile of turkeys grew and a couple of breadfruit were added.  Some members brought their pans full of ribs or pork roast to be cooked.  The time waiting for the imu to be ready was spent socializing and eating snacks and food that members had brought for this yearly event.

Two hours later, the rocks were starting to glow.

Gilbert and Linda Miles our host and hostess

We watched the process with interest.  The fire put off a lot of heat!!

About four hours after we had arrived, the rocks were finally ready to finish the imu.

The turkeys and other food were all set to go - there were 72 pans in all!  We kept looking at the pile and wondering how all of that food would fit in the imu and cook!

Next the remaining wood embers were removed and the process continued.

Bamboo stump was first put over the hot lava rocks.

Then came the ti leaves . . .

and then, the banana leaves. The kids and teens helped the men place the leaves.

Then a human "turkey brigade" began as pans of meat were passed to the imu to be placed for cooking.

They did manage to get ALL 72 pans plus 2 breadfruits on the imu!

Then a wire net went down, followed by more ti leaves, then banana leaves on top of that.

Then came a layer of wet gunny sacks followed by a plastic tarp.

The tarp was held in place by hoses filled with sand.

The final step was placing sand bags to insure that NO steam escaped.  Then the imu was left to cook the meat until the next morning at 7:00 AM when all of the layers were removed!  We arrived a little after 7:00 AM and the many layers had been removed and we could see all of the cooked pans of meat - they had steamed all night!

Another human "turkey brigade" passed all the hot pans of meat to be placed on the tables for the ward members to pick them up. Twelve turkeys were donated by ward members for the Pahoa Ward Thanksgiving Feast to be held at a nearby park at noon!  This is a tradition with that ward.

Members began to come to pick up their meat.

The area around the imu was cleaned up.

The moist and tender meat fell off the bones!
Then the twelve turkeys that were for the ward party were deboned and pulled apart; to be served later.

I worked alongside Linda and other ward members.

This side of the island is famous for lots of rain and it came pouring down while we worked.

Hal found a new friend!
When all the turkeys were ready and the area was cleaned up, we left with Gilbert and Linda. They took us on a short tour of the area. They showed us a place that was great for snorkeling and some of the other sights nearby.  Then we returned to their home to get our car. They wanted us to go to the Ward Party with them, but they knew that we had  previously been invited to have Thanksgiving Dinner with President and Sister Heinzen.  They serve in the Kona Temple Presidency and are truly wonderful people. They have served in the temple presidency with 3 previous temple presidents and were called to serve again with President Okura.  They accepted the call and have begun their 10th year of service!  We traveled a short distance to their home in Hilo.

The table was set beautifully and an awesome feast awaited!

Sister Heinzen is Italian and we had chicken cacciatore, polenta, pineapple ham (a nod to Hawaii), squash, Italian tomato, basil, onion salad, rolls and lots of antipasti treats!  Everything was delicious!  I got off easy by bringing a dessert.  I made an orange, coconut cake. with orange frosting.  It was so nice to eat with them and then visit and get to know them better.  They have lots of fruit trees in their back yard and every week since we started serving in the temple, they have brought us a big bag filled with oranges, bananas and papayas.  They sent us home with a 5 gallon bucket of fruit and lots of leftovers from the feast!  We have been enjoying lots of fresh squeezed orange juice, banana bread and of course the fresh fruit is wonderful to eat!
This was a Thanksgiving that we will always remember!  One of the best parts of serving a mission is the wonderful, eternal friends that you make!!
ALOHA