I remember growing up ... the shopping for this day ... we would all make the trip to the store to pick out the perfect turkey ... for some reason my father had to have a butterball ... nothing else would do ... and my mother would have to find the biggest one as Turkey is a family favorite ... I imagine that putting on this feast was not easy for them ... when I think about it now as they didn't have much money ... we were poor ... yet we ... in my opinion were the richest as we had the things that money could not buy ...
My mother would search for the perfect head of cabbage ... her coleslaw was the best ... we had to have the biggest Rutabaga that could be found because her mashed rutabaga was the best ... and god love her she attempted to make homemade cranberry sauce once or twice ... but we revolted as we just loved the canned stuff ... still do actually. There is nothing like seeing that cranberry sauce in the shape of the can cut in half and then sliced ... I don't know why but for some reason I do not feel that it is thanksgiving unless that is on my table ... LOL ... Don't forget the ingredients for the stuffing ... I was in charge of tearing up the bread for her stuffing ... I thought that I was something ... felt real important ... as I got older I also got the job of watching over the celery and onion as they cooked with the sage ... it had to be just right and not overcooked ... I'm afraid that I didn't perform this task very well in the beginning ... And the mashed potato's ... she would do 10 pounds ... because you plan on so many people to be there .... but you never know when you will have a few extras ... so you better be prepared!
My father was charged with the cooking of the turkey ... after it had been properly stuffed ... he would watch over that bird all night long ... basting it with loving care ... you see it had to cook all night long in order to be ready for the dinner table at 1:30 PM ... it still to this day amazes me that they were able to pull off such a dinner at this early time of day ... It takes me (no matter what time I start) until at least 3:00 PM ... I just can't seem to pull it together any earlier.
My father would have to "test the bird" ... as soon as it was removed from the oven ... he would pull off the wings (nobody else wanted them) ... and eat them up ... and I remember afterwe all had grown up ... living in our own homes ... as soon as we each removed our birds from the oven ... we called him so that he could come and test our birds. It became a tradition ... and I miss it ...
When dinner was over ... and all was cleaned up ... we then would begin making our rounds to the houses of the Aunts ... at some we would simply have desert ... but I remember that when wemade it to a certain Aunts' house ... which was usually our last stop of the evening ...she would insist that we have turkeysandwiches and a slice of her pumpkin pie. We would then return home ... knowing that we ateenough to feed a small army that day ... and what would we do ... we would sit down to a slice of my mothers Pumpkin Chiffon Pie ... What a day ... it was all centered around family and friends ...sharing a meal and good times ...
Now ... it does not seem that families are as close as they once were ... I knew growing up who my cousins were ... and were talking first cousins up to 3rd and the ones that are once removed ... but people today are lucky if they know their first cousins as families are just not as close.
Anyway that is a Thanksgiving Memory that I have ... I hope I have not bored you!
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I want everyone to stop and think about one thing ... Joe Pilchesky is not a lawyer ... he's just a guy playing a lawyer on the internet. Please don't trust your legal needs to this man.
