THANKSGIVING STORIES, FOOD AND MORE........

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jenn3
jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

With Thanksgiving coming up this week I thought we could share some stores, traditions, foods we eat and whatever else comes to mind......................

I normally host Thanksgiving each year and have decided I will do it again this year........... The first few years of hosting such a big event are learning years - My first time hosting Thanksgiving I was really worried because I had never cooked a turkey and had no idea what I was doing- my grandmother had always done it.  So.......... I listened to different people got ideas and made my first turkey.  It was wonderful! Tender, juicy and full of flavor.  Everyone raved over my turkey - I was so proud of myself.  Year two rolls around I knew I had it made............ I could make a turkey!!!  I was ready.  I woke up early to get the turkey ready, stuffed it and put it in the oven.  I was so organized I had everything ready, house decorated, cleaned and side dishes prepared.  Everyone started showing up with more yummy dishes - the wonderful aroma of Thanksgiving was everywhere, including the turkey.  It was time........ the turkey was ready to come out of the oven.  We took the turkey out of the oven, put it on the platter sliced into it......................and it was raw in the middle.  Apparently the damn turkey must have still been a little frozen in the middle, then I stuffed it and underestimated the cooking time.   Year 2 - we ate Thanksgiving without a turkey  - it went home as left overs.

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  • GramE
    GramE Member Posts: 5,056
    edited November 2009

    I was always the hostess when we had our house.   We invited those who would otherwise be alone, since our family was only 6 people.   To keep people busy, I set up a card table and a jig saw puzzle.   

    One year my Mom had a bit of wine and we got to talking about how I got my name.   I am the first born and was suppossed to be Bruce.  The day before she was to go home, the nurse came in and said that I HAD to have a name before she and I could go home.   Many had been discussed, after grandma, aunt, great grandma, etc.   Mom looked down at the bed and the comic pages were open.  At the very top was Nancy and Sluggo. So, Nancy it is.  The nurses name was Louise, so I got Nancy Louise - named after the comic strip character.   And I have natural curly hair, just like Nancy - even more so since it is back after chemo.     Good thing she didn't see Lil Abner and Daisy Mae....     

    Hugs and Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving.   Nancy  

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  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 7,799
    edited November 2009

    i remember the Thanksgiving we decided to fix two small turkeys (we have a huge family).. They were cooling on the table in the middle of the kitchen and we all watched in horror as our dog grabbed one of them and ran away.. he came back a couple hours later.

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    Oh, my - lots of turkey disasters!

    The cat of my parents friends came home one Xmas with a half thawed turkey - obviously someone had put it outside to defrost (this was in NZ so summertime)  and lost their Xmas lunch!!

    Thanksgiving was a new Holiday for me when i came to Canada, and is now one of my favorites! We always have two - a big family gathering at a cottage the week before, then us at home on the real one. 

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  • Pure
    Pure Member Posts: 1,796
    edited November 2009

    I remember the first time I prepare ThanksGiving dinner -I was living with my husband in Spain. I wanted to make him a special dinner to remind of us of home. I bought a cornish hen ( I thought it was a turkey)  That was embarressing-I didn't know the difference. I bake but cooking is not my forte which is quite maddening for my very Italian mother.

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  • Celtic_Spirit
    Celtic_Spirit Member Posts: 748
    edited November 2009

    When I was a little kid, I remember my dad watching football games with his friends on Thanksgiving after dinner. They would put their beers on TV trays, and I'd slither underneath the trays, nip the beer can off the tray and take a sip when I thought they weren't watching! My dad thought this was hilarious, but my mom wasn't amused. LOL!

    When I was a teenager living with my foster mom in Tennessee, I remember getting out of bed Thanksgiving morning to use the restroom. I walked into the living room, and it was filled wall-to-wall with folk musicians, including John McCutcheon. I blinked several times and walked back into my bedroom and got back into bed. I thought I had dreamed the whole thing. She made the biggest breakfast I've ever seen that morning - biscuits, gravy, grits, bacon, eggs, toast, pancakes, sausage - for everyone there.

    When I was in college, I got a hankering for Thanksgiving dishes one April. I thought, why not have Thanksgiving several times a year? There's no law saying you can have turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce only once a year in November! So I bought a turkey and made the whole meal and invited my best friend over for dinner. That was almost 30 years ago, and she still talks about the time we had Thanksgiving in April!

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Thanksgiving in April - that's much better than breakfast for dinner.....................

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  • weesa
    weesa Member Posts: 707
    edited November 2009

    You know, I think Thanksgiving dinner is one of the trickiest ones to pull off--much harder, say, than throwing a steak on the grill for 4th of July. We just don't get much practice ahead of time cooking a larger bird. Mine were dried out for a long time til I got the hang of it. My most memorable Thanksgiving memory is of our dearly departed Golden Retriever, Fetzer, who snarfed down a whole tray of yeast bread rolls I had just finished kneading and had left in a warm spot to rise. All throughout dinner he lay under the dining room table, green at the gills, and belched horrific yeasty quantities of air from a distended belly.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Weesa - poor Fetzer, but that is so funny................................

    My mom was the pie maker growing up - one year my grandmother decided that she would take care of the pumpkin pie to "help" mom out.  My grandmother was so proud of herself, she had a great idea that saved everyone from baking - she bought a Mrs.Smith's frozen pie.  Which is fine, the pies aren't bad, but she didn't know they still had to be baked in the oven.  She had thawed the pie on the counter all day.................. and when she pulled it from the box, liquid pumpkin flew out across the table.  So there we stand with orange liquid across the kitchen table laughing hysterically as my grandmother who is determined not going to let Thanksgiving go by without pumpkin pie scoop all of the pumpkin liquid back into the shell with a spoon and then proceeded to bake it.  I don't remember how it tasted, but the memory (which we have in pictures) of grandmother scooping all of that liquid back into the shell is still funny.

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    Isn't it funny how some of the fondest memories we have are of "disasters"! Both of these stories gave me a good giggle this morning! Weesa - your poor dog!

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    The funniest and fondest memories do always seem to be what seemed to be a disaster at the time............... Somehow "the perfect" holiday isn't what we remember - it's the silliness that comes with trying to make it perfect.

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  • kim40
    kim40 Member Posts: 904
    edited November 2009

    Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Sisters!  Us "Canadians" celebrated in October,but I thought I would post anyway!

    The very first Thanksgiving I hosted was about 20 years ago.  My parents came from Newfoundland and former SIL and her husband came for dinner. 

    The turkey was roasted to perfection!  I was so proud of myself.  We put the turkey on the table and my dad was named the "Carver".  He started carving and I could see a little smile on his face.  He reached down and pulled out the bag that contains the parts that are unwanted out of the turkey!  I was so embarrassed....

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  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited November 2009

    After years of coming to our family's holidays feasts, my father's single sister decided she would host the next Thanksgiving. We were skeptical...we knew Aunt Joan didn't cook. But we figured she would be having it catered. So, my mother, father, my two sisters, and my four teenaged brothers accepted and showed up with our appetites well honed. And I'm sure you all know how honed a male teen's appetite can get.

    After a short while sitting around her living room, having pre-dinner drinks (but no appetizers or hors d'oeurvres) my aunt ushered us into her dining room where she had set up a buffet...of cold cuts, potato salad, and rolls. It was more on the order of picnic fare, And to add insult to injury, there was barely more than a pound each of ham and bologna, and a third meat I can't remember but not any turkey...to feed three adults and seven kids. My mother did a quick mental calculation and started pulling us aside and told us to take small portions. But she didn't get to my eldest brother in time. He strode up and made himself a huge sandwich, and then said something to the effect of my aunt should put out more cold cuts (one sandwich for that college football player would not be enough).

    It was clear that my aunt had seriously underestimated the amount of food she needed to feed our family. There were plenty of rolls, though (I guess things are cheaper by the dozen, lol), so we made do with buttered rolls and potato salad, figuring we would have plenty of room for dessert.

    For dessert, she had a pint of Breyer's ice cream.

    When we left that evening, we passed Burger King about a block away...thank goodness it was open.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Cold cuts for Thanksgiving.............. that's a new one.   I love the story - thanks for sharing.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Today is Thanksgiving - since the funny stories are related to disasters I'm going to wish and great day with no funny stories and hope that everyone enjoys their Turkey w/all the fixings. 

                                          Laughing         HAPPY THANKSGIVING        Laughing

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  • apple
    apple Member Posts: 7,799
    edited November 2009

    Thanksgiving was a wonderful flurry of two huge sets of relatives.  My husband and I both had 8 brothers and sisters.

    This was the first year in my life I had absolutely no room for dessert..

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  • AsiaYM
    AsiaYM Member Posts: 2,216
    edited November 2009

    My DH told me that I made the very best turkey dressing ever, he gave me 5 stars, now he demands to have turkey and dressing more often, like once a month!  I guess I hit the jackpot! I am on my 5th round of chemo, my taste bud is compromised, I wouldn't know, I will find out later for sure.

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Thanksgiving was great, my turkey took longer to cook than expected. We ate an hour late.  But........... everyone raved over the turkey they said it was the best ever, it was extremely moist (white an dark meat) with crispy skin and full of flavor.  I've never had a turkey picked clean with minimal leftovers!  Whoo Hoo!   So.... other than eating an hour later than expected it all went off without a hitch.

    Next is the holiday season....................

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited November 2009

    Karen - Well, you have to give us the recipe now!!

    My husband says mine isn't as good as his mothers!!

    jenn - glad to hear you had a nice day. 

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited November 2009

    Kerry - Without tasting it, I'm going to say it's not as good, but better :)

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