Stand-up comic's Nick Helm password joke takes top prize at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Submitted by:
kitonlove
03/12/11
Submitted by:
veachbum
03/23/11
Submitted by:
RitaLuSmith
03/17/11
Submitted by:
janej78
03/27/11
Submitted by:
BJ Jones
04/15/11
November 21, 2011
“Could you pass the uh...”
Ah, if it were that easy everyone would know what to call it these days.
But it's not.
Experts tell us if you're inserting the stuffing in the bird it has to heat to 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be salmonella safe.
Experts also tell us if you do cook it that long, the turkey will be dry and tasteless.
What to do?
Simple.
Cook your stuffing in a casserole dish outside the bird.
Which also means, you have to say, “Pass the dressing.”
Not, “Pass the stuffing.”
Since, even though you’re stuffing yourself, you’re not stuffing the bird.
Now here's where it gets tricky.
In order to stuff your turkey safely, high level food summit meetings have produced such methods as pre-cooking your stuffing and/or sealing it into a bag or cooking it separately and then stuffing the turkey.
The first two methods you can call stuffing, but can you call the latter stuffing and still look in the mirror?
Appropriately enough, it's all turning into a farce.
Did you know that stuffing in the middle ages was known as farce, from the Latin farcire (and French farcir) meaning to stuff?
Since “farce” was a theatrical term, which originally denoted a brief, lighthearted play stuffed in between lengthy religious productions to keep the audience from being bored.
I can only hope I haven’t bored you so far.
But I better stuff in a few more facts quick.
Oyster stuffing was popular in the 19th century and remains so today. Southerners often prefer pecan, rice or cornbread. Italians like sausage in their stuffing.
The lines often blur.
Some of the brave even like cherries and I've read of a recipe using White Castle hamburgers, sans the pickles.
(I can see where pickles would get in the way.)
Well, there's a lot to consider:
Method, type, what to call it?
I'm very thankful I can leave the rest of the stuff to you.
I will be using my mother's recipe for stuffing, as Thanksgiving does not seem like Thanksgiving ...
-Dash
Nov. 21, 2011 8:46 PM
Submitted by:
DHeberle
03/27/11
Submitted by:
desiraedawn
04/02/11
Submitted by:
Pookiemou
03/05/11
Submitted by:
tom watson
03/15/11
Submitted by:
aryckman
04/03/11
Sudden thought: I am just thankful that in those early days the featured item on the Thanksgiving menu wasn't, say, an opossum.
Nuke it till it glows, and then eat it in the dark....what fun!
Surely it's called stuffin' because you put the stuff in? If I'm doing turkey & all the trimmings, I make the 'stuffing' into waulnut size balls and cook them seperately. Loads of them. There's a high demand for tasty cold stuffing in the inevitable next day turkey sandwiches and I am mindful of the salmonella issue. I cook up extra bread sauce in a loaf tin - lovely onion-y, cloves scented cut & come again to shove in your turkey sandwich. A few leaves from the salad bowl, a dollop of home-made crannberry jelly. Feast fit for a king. You do need a flip-top head to eat these sandwiches. Ooooh, I'm hungry now.
Stuffing is never this complicated in my house! I make my own stuffing. I stuff the bird. Any extra goes into a casserole dish in the oven. Done. ;-)
Okay, these are the leftovers from yesterday’s menu …..
Why didn't the turkey want any lunch?
He was already stuffed!
What happened when the turkey got into a fight?
He got the stuffing knocked out of him
Asked to write a composition entitled, "What I'm thankful for on Thanksgiving," a student wrote,
"I am thankful that I'm not a turkey."
Seriously though, I wondered if Chinese families in America or Canada celebrate Thanksgiving, and was gladdened to see that indeed they do, adapting traditional Chinese fare. For instance, the turkey is often steamed, and the stuffing is a spinoff of the Cantonese dish Lo Mai Gai (glutinous rice, black mushrooms, and Chinese sausage wrapped in a dried lotus leaf and steamed).
http://theasiangrandmotherscookbook.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/thanksgiving-stuffing-the-chinese-way/
Because the Turkey will cook faster and more completely if it is NOT Stuff'd ... I have always made Cornbread Dressing with Sausage, Giblets, and Button Mushrooms in a 34X32X8 inch Roasting Pan in a seperate Oven, and at a different Temperature ... Sometimes we do a small batch of Oyster Dressing, but we are sure to mark the Pan, so that Guests will know ... I have done Stuffing for Ducks with Popcorn (it is really marvelous) and I did a small batch of Oatmeal Dressing one year, and people have ask'd for it every year since, including people who Dined with us each year, and follow'd us three hundred miles to the Coastal Bend when we Relocated six years ago ... The Move itself took almost three years to accomplish, but was finally done ... All of the Food is Donated to our Mission's Food Bank each year, and they used to send 8 to 12 pound Turkeys, but about three years ago, I ask'd them to send Turkey Rolls and about two hundred Turkey Drumsticks, to expedite the whole process ... Bless them all, they always take our Estimates of how many people we will Serve, and they add fifteen percent ... What a Mitzvah they do ... and we know that God takes Notes ... The people begin to arrive Wednesday Evening, they enjoy Thursday, come back on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday ... and many of them come in to take Sabbath with us on Friday nite and Satuirday morning ... It is a lot of work for us each year, but it is a Great Feeling to accomplish it ... Some people come and Dine with us, not because they are indigent, but so's they can show their Support and Compassion for others ... What a Mitzvah that is, too ....... We have Tubs of Coffee, Tea(Sweeten'd with STEVIA), and Juices for the kids ... Apple, Orange, Cranberry, and whatever else we can find that is not Carbonated and full of AntiFreeze or other Chemicals ... Most of these people don't even have a Basic Suburban Dental Plan, which is a Ball of String and an Electrically Operated Garage Door ... We're going to unLoad the Trucks tomorrow and do all the Prep work, and start cooking around Midnite ... usually the ones who come on Wednesday, we take over to Luis' Restaurant, or over to the Eatwell Cafe ... if there aren't too many of them ... Rarely more than two dozen ... and they get to eat something besides Turkey, since thats purdy much what they will be eating for about a week ... We send everyone away with Doggy Bags ... and the whole Show goes on thru New Years Eve ... by then of course, we are usually serving Meatloaf, Mash'd Taters, and French Style Green Beans (the Original Blue Plate Special) ... then we won't see most of them again until Next Year ... but at least, they get to see that my People don't have Horns, and we don't make our Bread with the Blood of Goyisher Children ...
That's just amazing Ivan, what a sight to behold. Blessings upon you and your crew for doing all that. By the way, that basic dental plan reminds me of mum, except she just slams a door. In fact, almost all the grandchildren have some similar memory and I have eavesdropped on their reminiscing it as a battle they survived
Ivan~ ditto - Blessings on you and your Krew. Do you have a guestimate of how many meals you serve over the holidays?
Ivan ~ Re: the end of your post -- there are some that still believe that....sad. How wonderful for the people that come and for you to do; a true Thanksgiving. Bless you, Ivan, for that and many other things. Alison ~ That's how we do it too And, I make the stuffing my mother taught me; simple -- if I have challah, I'll use that, it always adds to a bread stuffing; so bread/challah, broken into little pieces and moistened first. Celery and the tops, onions, browned first. Put the moistened bread in and brown the lot. And then it's stuffed into the turkey with the rest going into a casserole dish. I cook it a long time, covered until the end and so, the turkey doesn't dry out and stuffing gets the flavor of the turkey with it. Has anyone here cooked the bird with the giblets still in it? My mother's friend did that one year.......and wondered what that was in the cavity.
I will follow my usual custom and stuff my bird. I use my mother's recipe, though I use fresh herbs a plenty, and folks always ask for more. I make a lot and always have an extra casserole of dressing to cook. I take the stuffing out of the bird and mix the two. If it is in the bird, it gets juices from the bird and is nice and moist and tasty. I also baste the bird as it cooks, usually with white wine, though this year I am using some hard cider. And I am donating turkeys and hams to the local Unity Club so folks in recovery who have no other place to go may also feast. My wife will make squash baji, an Indian dish with lots of onion, turmeric, cloves and garam masala to flavor the squash. Yum! And of course, mashed potatoes, gravy, a vegetable, and my daughter will make pumpkin pie. We will give most of the leftovers to my stepdaughter, her husband and children since they are struggling the most financially. And so it is. Happy Thanksgiving.
Yes, Andy~ my brother's first attempt at roast chicken, he left the giblets in - packaged in a polythene bag. He said it smelled a bit funny while it was cooking and tasted so revolting that even the dog rejected it.
Years ago when I was married We had the In laws over for dinner. I made an Apple Stuffing to go with the chicken.. The Mother In Law did not like it. I LOVED it - my mom has made it at various family get togethers, but I will admit there is a HUGE outcry if Grandma's stuffing is not made along with the Green Bean Casserole. hmm maybe it's not such a mystery as to why I am no longer married...
We are all living proof that one can survive the salmonella in turkey stuffing! We seem to be on the same page with our stuff the bird and put the rest in a casserole. LYNN's idea of mixing the two will now become S.O.P. in my house.
I will roast my turkey upside down so the juices run into the breast. Sometimes it requires a little "surgery" to make an impressive presentation but when there is a very large group I do a smaller turkey the day before which I completely carve in the kitchen because the whole ceremonious carving can take soooo long. Thank goodness for hot gravy!
My favorite leftover sandwich: white bread, Hellman's mayo (copious amounts), stuffing, turkey and lots of cranberry sauce==can be homemade or canned.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday! I am so excited this year because its the first one where both my children are here as well as my granddaughter Shelby who at 20 months finds the magic in everything. It is also the first one where I am only cooking for my family and not making pies by the dozen (up here)--it used to be pies by the thousands in NYC.
IVAN--there will be a special place for you in the hereafter. The precision and grace with which you prepare your gift for so many is awesome. People in need are grateful for any free meal but yours will be delicious and perfection and that message of caring is so important to the recipients. So many people show up to dish up mashed potatoes and pat themselves on the back for it, but IVAN you are the Real Deal. I am so proud to know you and relish all the details. There will be a special toast to you at our Thanksgiving table!
For openers it's mainly "Dressing" in the Midsouth. And by the way, "dressing well" is important to me as another expression of gratitude along with using the good china. It is time to be excellent. But to topic-Cornbread. Separate. Crisp layer on top. A little kick to it. Touch of gravy. And because of the wide variety of other dishes there are several wines- red and white that will work. Must be moist- Dry is a deal breaker...
Rings ~ There wasn't much my mother in law like about me, including my stuffing, but we managed to make our own way without her approval...........it was a guilty pleasure to see her so frustrated. Hazel ~ And then there's the search for the neck. Sometimes some Butterball person will have a sense of humor and the neck will be found where the sun never shines.
and cats doing a Maypole Dance around your ankles while the giblets are simmering and the turkey is in the oven. One year, when I had kittens in the house, I came into the kitchen after we had feasted to see the rear legs and tail of a kitty sticking out of the rear end of my turkey. He was very annoyed to be removed from his food cavern.
Mixing the two stuffings (in the bird and casserole) seems to rescue the casserole which to my taste is way too dry. My recipe calls for celery leaves which is hard to come by since all the stores seem to chop the leaves off (uniform length? afraid they'll spoil?). The flavor of just leaves is quite different from the celery itself.
I make onion bread to be the base of my sage & onion stuffing. However I also add cornbread--which is probably sacreligious to all my Southern friends but its sooo good. On non-Thanksgiving occasions I also add dried cranberries but for Turkey Day I stick to the classic (family classic). I am pretty sure my cornbread is very Yankee, as it has sugar in it but I have always served cornbread with breakfast in my restaurants and its a popular feature. LYNN I know just what you mean about the celery leaves--luckily I can get celery with leaves intact.
I usually stuff, but this year will be working on getting everything done a bit earlier than ususal, so will probably casserole it---and then regret it. ChefDeb--my daughter (almost 40 now) told me a couple of years ago she never had a turkey sandwich as good as the ones that I make--it's the Hellman's, I know. I like to save the stuffing for another meal, so usually just go sans stuffing on the sandwich. Hazel--what a picture!! Tail and little legs sticking out of the turkey! Ivan----I can only echo what others have said. Your mitzvah is truly pleasing unto the Lord.
Wonderful posts all......................I am off & enjoying reading.
CHEFD & IVAN....................between the two of you I am swooning w/ hunger, desperate for your delicious offerings......................mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...................I will have a bowl of Lucky Charms................yes, a guilty pleasure when there is no work! HA! Besides, they are magically delicious..................
I am thinking that some of the so called experts might also be found in the women's hygeine aisle...............................
hygiene..............
Is there anything, one wonders, more cold and disagreeable than groping around inside an icy Butterball for the neck and gibs with a bare hand?
No matter, we have long since gone to a fresh bird and, more recently, to a half.
I may have saved the son-in-law of the butcher from a period of unemployment and a life of mockery when I stopped him from cutting a bird in half the wrong way: "You want the front or the back?"
We use Brownberry Sage and Onion dressing, stuff the bird with some and make some plain for the vegans.
An uncle was famous for his giblet dressing that contained as well chunks of split and grilled tasty German sausages. A plate of that with jellied cranberries and a beverage was as good as it got.
Ivan's epic holiday preparations make the rest of ours, no matter how arduous, seem like child's play.
I'm cooking the stuffing in my pumpkin ;) Does that count?
But I have fond memories of trying out many of the recipe you are going to be preparing. I, too, stuffed bird and the rest wound up in the casserole. In fact, I have stuffed the neck cavity with oyster dressing and the body cavity with standard sage and onion. One year I tried chestnut dressing.
Good Morning all! YOU ALL HAVE ME DROOLING!!! I want recipes!!!! Wonder if Mr. Peterman would open a new category - since we talk about food so much, put together some favorites - SQUASH BASJI - and others I have read about here. Blue Plate Specials and other culinary delights from soup to nuts.
I love having a wonderful recipe from a friend, the stories behind the recipes are intriguing and the first taste is just like my friend is there, waiting for me to close my eyes and say MMMMMMMMMM-GOOD!.
STONEY...................."the front or the back?"........................might become a classic holiday line from now on......................
Hold the pickles & the condiments but do not sell the White Castle recipe short- it truly works and was enjoyed by all!
LYNN: I do as you stuff with dressing and then mix.
CHEF DEB: Also my favorite sammy except I like it on very lightly toasted rye.
This year I'll be having Thanksgiving dinner at my nephews house with Mom, my sisters and various other nieces and nephews. No leftovers. Boo Hoo.
Saturday we're all going to celebrate the birthdays of my sister and me at Morton's after the 4 o'clock mass.
EVERYONE HAVE A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!
So simple it was before I grew up and was introduced to "stuffing," a different animal from the "dressing" I knew. For therein lies the difference: Stuffing goes into a bird; dressing goes into a 13"X9" pan or dish, to be baked. (Delicious leftover; my son ate cold dressing for breakfast countless times. Leftovers are often why we fix what we fix.)
The authors of "The Joy of Cooking" make editorial comments as they go. Of ham, they write, "The definition of eternity is two people and a ham." True of turkey also, when your family shrinks.
Dressing (as I know it) is a mix of cornbread, "other" bread (any tired bread you want to get rid of; French is my favorite); chicken stock, chopped Vidalia onions (first cooked in butter; Vidalias are in season only in May and June,m but frozen chopped ones are now available year 'round), and crumble thoroughly by hand. Season to taste: Sage (step lightly), thyme, a smidgen of sugar (unless you sweeten cornbread heavily). Wait 'til last to add salt: Stock and breads contain more than you'd think. Altogether a play-by-ear matter: Taste as you go. Bake at 350-400 (watch; it depends on your oven). If it absorbs too much broth as it cooks, add more.
Now I've grown up to understand stuffing, thus having a basis for comparison, I believe the good things about dressing are (1) it requires no bird; (2) you fix it anytime you want it, all year; (3) you don't worry about salmonella (if ever you did!). Dreessing, like Yorkshire pudding, makes a fine (surprise) side dish twelve months a year.
Aslant of Topic, a bit, this comes to mind: Why do Southerners "fix," while others "make" foods, dishes? On first hearing "I'll make a turkey (chicken, green beans, Brussels sprouts...,") my mental image was disturbing. I've grown accustomed to it now, and "make" comes naturally to more people than does "fix," perhaps. All has to do with what we heard growing up; we never escape our roots, do we?
IVAN often puts us to shame, and does it again. I'm drawn to so many of everyone else's recipes, too, though, I'd be hard put to choose. After all my talk of dressing, I won't be cooking at all: Children are far away, and friends have families coming or near, so we'll volunteer in a soup kitchen Thursday. And enjoy images of all of you cooking, feeding, eating....
GEORGIA--I love that you mentioned the Make vs. fix about food preparation. I drove my staff and cooking students crazy correcting them..."only God can make a chicken you are going to cook it..." I don't know if its just regional but the other one that drives me nuts is "I'm going to make a party."
Oh did I laugh at the Joy of Cooking quote you gave about 2 people and a ham being the definition of eternity as I was just cleaning mustard off my shoe which apparently I spilled while making ham salad, just a few minutes ago! 2 dinners, 1 lunch, ham salad for cocktails on crackers, chopped ham for quiche for snacking on Turkey Day waiting for the main event and STILL I am freezing the rest of it! Eventually it will be seriously good soup of some sort.
GEORGIA..................Your comment to "step lightly" w/ the sage is sooooooooooooo true. One year, for some reason, I went crazy w/ the sage. My thought, I love sage, so lots of sage will be fabulous....................uh, not so fabulous......................
CHEFD.....................your mention of ham sald sounds delicious. It reminds me of my grandfather & his homemade ham salad. He ground his own ham & it was just so savory w/ a hint of sweetness and absolutely delicious. One of the many small things that memories are made from........................
I'm a fan of food in general, thanksgiving foods especially. I am always interested to see regional/cultural variations on a food theme and thanksgiving meals are no exception. Thanksgiving wouldn't be thanksgiving without my mom making grandma Toni's rotkohl...but my friends think it is weird and disgusting. Our friends from Arkansas used to make cornbread, greens, potato salad, black eyed peas, fried okra and all kinds of things that I associated more with summer BBQ than thanksgiving, but man was it good.
I have yet to meet a dressing or a stuffing that I didn't like....berry apple stuffing - GOOD! Whitbread and herb stuffing - GOOD!, Oyster Stuffing - GOOD!, Chestnut and cranberry stuffing - GOOD!, Stove Top - GOOD! Hey, don't judge me, stuffing falls in to the pizza category...even bad stuffing is better than no stuffing.
Which reminds me of the stovetop ads from about 15-20 years ago with the 2 little boys talking about what their moms were making for dinner and they were both having stovetop. One family was eating at 5 another was eating at 6, so they called their mothers and asked if they could bring their friend for dinner and they got double helpings of stuffing. To this day it makes me laugh and now I'm married to a man who is just like those boys.
I am still a fan of in the bird stuffing. I have yet to have a friend or a family member get sick from stuffing that was cooked in a bird, and until I do I will continue to cook it that way. VIVA LA STUFFING!
Georgia ~
You have such a good ear and eye. If I say: "I'm in the kitchen fixing something," it would be one of the seven lights, the faucet or the fan and I would be encouraged to put my tools away when finished.
The appliances are left to the pros one of whom said: "Eighty bucks for a service call… twice as more if it looks like you goofed around with it before I got there."
Ivan~Thank you for inspiring thoughts of generosity - I will think of your extended 'family' this week and know that there are people in this world who understand the healing power of a good plate of turkey and stuffing. Such a wonderful thing you do. My favorite Thanksgiving memory is still the first one I spent in Southern California after I moved here. My car had gotten totalled several weeks previous, so I had a friend drive me to my brother's apartment on campus at Loyola Marymount. We loaded up on the necessities - a 26 lb. bird, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry jelly, and pumpkin pie. Mind you, we had dinner for only 4 people - and 26 lbs. of turkey! Our first effort at the feast turned out brilliantly - and we played video games and ate leftovers for the entire weekend. Our feelings of triumph at making a moist bird and good stuffing can only be described as a 'coming of age' moment.
is it possible to "stuff" a turkey for frying? Just Mom and I this year, a 10.5# fresh hen, and fresh new peanut oil for the old electric(see? not to worry) fryer....mild corn bread (Mom can't take the heat)but heavily unsweetened jallopino'd portion for me. I make the cranberry thing as soon as the cranberries arrive,almost daily,with a little twist- I put fresh cranberries,about a cupful,with a 3/4" slice of ginger,an apple,a peeled grapefruit,and sometimes a large carrot into the juicer for breakfast; for T-day, I use some of the mash from the juicer,mixed back into the juice,with a dollup of honey- - YUM! (there is a bag of sun dried cane sugar in my pantry,but it is rarely touched for any thing but guests that want sweet tea). I have never had just deep-fryed turkey for T-day; so the stuffing question. I know I can make dressing. And sweet potato mashed ....
God Bless You All, and I appreciate your kind words ...
We are gifted with all the necessities of a Thanksgiving Feast, because we are a fifty-three year old Missionary Group (My Community are the only Yids) and all we do is provide the Labor to put it all together ... Its actually Fun !!! It is a Mitzvah for us, and we appreciate the opportunity ... a Mitzvah is not a "Command", but more like a Strong Suggestion, along the lines of doing something according to God's Law ... We are not Required to do Mitzvos ... but Willingness to do them, gets us points going in, and the better we do them, the more points are available to us ... When we are honest with ourselves, we become truly Thankful for all we have been Bless'd with, and it is a natural thing to want to share the Blessings ... and then of course, there is always the reality of feeling that we would be very Thankful if we were in need, and without ....... Each of us would rather be used in God's Plans, than not, and since God is a Jew from Texas, it is a most natural thing for us to be involved ... There are some who think that the Texas Trinity is God, Kinkt Friedman, and Me ... a Lovely Thought, but we have no confirmation on that yet .......
I just came in for a little Dinner and a Coldbeer, now its back to the Kitchen and PAN-demonium !!!
See Y'all Later .......
"KINKY" that is ....... Fat Fingers are good for some things, but NOT typing .......
RY I think you are good to go stuffing the deepfried bird. My son-in-law from Colorado does one every year (they have 4 turkeys--2 roast, 1 smoked and 1 fried) and he always stuffs it. I feel sorry for him being away from home for his first Thanksgiving ever, however I am so happy to have my daughter & granddaughter here I will simply have to charm him with our East Coast (I have only recently found out that "East Coast" is a dirty word for some)spread and hope we can dull his pain.
The downside of Thanksgiving are all the Absent Friends who are not at our tables. Some of them are sweet memories, others are lingering maladies. No matter how many are at the Thanksgiving table, 2 or 20 or whatever, there are always many more places set in our minds. Some years it can be brutal, others bittersweet and happy memories. We have fun with various toasts at Thanksgiving Dinner, but the last toast before we dig in is always "Absent Friends." I drink to your Absent Friends as well (Pinky at the top of the list).
Is it just me or did that article up top sound like the "old" Peterman that we used to know and love? Somehow it was more like the real McCoy to my ear!
Look at all the cooking going on and the variety. Wouldn't it be great to be able to go from place to place and sample? Yummmm.
Ivan, you are one of the blessings for which many will be thankful.
I stuff and dress and prefry. Pluck the bread, season each batch--usually 6 to 8-- even add an egg and fry in an iron skillet with scads of real butter. Some goes in the turkey and some gets warmed in a foil pouch about half an hour before the bird is done. In years past with up to 15 guests I've cook as many as 12 batches starting on Monday to pluck the loaves.
The recipe came from at least two fenerations before me , and at my Grandfather's table there were 24 of us. No childern's table either.
Yeah, right! Generations!!
Food! Love the discussion. I left home at an early age to go off to college and because I moved away from home, (along with other reasons) my Thanksgiving dinners have always been at someone else's house. At college, then at friends houses, now at my Mother-in-law's house. She is getting up there, and I suppose pretty soon this tradition will end. I promised my sister this year that when that fateful day arrives (she is 87 after all!) I will host Thanksgiving dinner and invite her. I saw a recipe in the paper from the Barefoot Contessa that was a turkey roll up. You flatten out a turkey breast, lay all sorts of good-tasting stuff in it like nuts and dried cranberries, (I don't remember everything, but it looked great) then roll it up and bake it. That's what I'm going to make when I host my first Thanksgiving. Along with squash, brussel sprouts, and mashed potatoes. I can't wait!
BTW, I've asked my M-I-L and my husband's family to dinner, but they can't be bothered to drive the 1 1/2 hours to our house.
marjorie ~ My first thought was "lucky you!" -- sorry, slapped my hand for that one; I don't even know them......judging from my own.
l marjorie ~ Andy ~ I don't know wether to laugh or cry. There is no pleasing the Outlaws on High Days and Holidays. Gimme Ivan's guests anyday
We don't "do" Thanksgiving in the UK - we do all the turkey and offending the relatives at Christmas.
Hazel~ That is where you are so much smarter than we are - we get two holidays to eat turkey and offend relatives - Thanksgiving and Christmas - ... I'm lucky (?) in that my parents are the Outlaws - and they're 3,000 miles away which precludes too many holiday disputes. Fortunately, I married into a lovely family, and I've made a really wonderful 'family' of friends here who gather for 'orphans' Thanksgiving...
Thank you, STONEY: Notice from you is rand.
ChefDeb, you introduced me to a new one -- "make a party." I know people on East and West coasts use different verbs to describe a meeting, but "make a party"? Well, it maKES SENSE, IN A WAY.... oops. Who says it? You'd know, with your experience teaching.
Stuffing! Dressing will for sure give you an "OUT OF BIRDIE EXPERIENCE"
"Out of birdie......" really RoadYacht you should go to the Edinburgh festival we read about yesterday!!!
Cranberries, apples, walnuts, celery, onions (chopped, all) mixed with bread and Secret Seasoning (same as everyone else mentioned) - and into the bird, front and back (Stoney, agree, not fun), and into the casserole dish. It disappears so fast, everyone's favorite on their plate seems to be the stuffing/dressing, whichever you got..................I love this holiday, and for the first time in four long years, I'm looking so forward to it.......A horse and carriage ride, as well, in the evening ... And so too for you, my Village friends, my wish for each and every one on this Thanksgiving to come: May love's laughter sing through the halls and up and down the staircases of wherever you call home.
Georgia - I'm with you on the preparation of dressing, and a moderate dose of sage....love the onions, scallions, and cornbread (dry bags of it), chicken stock, and sometimes put in oysters, walnuts, or pecans. If it is adults, I usually also chop up the giblets and add to the dressing. Never stuff the turk, as that takes longer to cook. We put halved onions and sage inside the bird for flavor.
And when I go in the kitchen to cook, I "fix" dinner! I never make dinner.
This year, my kitchen is torn up, all old cabinets are gone, walls are painted, cleaned, outlets moved, and I am waiting for the new cabinets that were promised for today....Cabinet maker had some "emergencies" and told me today it will be Wednesday.....This will double the storage capacity and counter space which has been a crying need for the 20 yrs. I have been in this house that was originally built for a "weekend" house...And I will be sooo happy to have a big kitchen!
We are not trying to cook in this disheveled kitchen, so are eating at the clubhouse this year. Last year we ate there and it was exceptionally good, except that there was no cranberry sauce, so I emailed the chef, and he promises that this year will include 3 different kinds of cranberry sauce....I like the gel kind, but some like the orange/cranberry mix, and some like the cranberry with pieces in it.
Among all the things for which I am thankful, the Eye is one, and all the flavorful people herein
Do your turkey any way that makes you happy....likewise your dressing or stuffing....! And enjoy your friends and families, as you celebrate all that we have for which to be thankful...!
Moose---soooooooooooo jealous of your new kitchen-to-be!! I would love to have a make-over on this 39 year old kitchen. But, I guess I'll let the next owner do that...no, we're not selling, just can't quite justify doing it. Enjoy your new space!
MOOSELOOP, good for you: No cranberry sauce? Fie on him. Bet he'll never forget it again.
HAZEL, I am confident you make the absolute best of every situation. No reason whetever you should have Thanksgiving -- one more Yank import for Hallmark.
Here it's often as important (in family terms) as Christmas -- and people seem willing to travel farther to be together. I envy you who have family (that you like!) nearby. Stoney's reads perfect, but any family that contains him is bound to be so.
Mr. P., thanks for your fine pun in the title of today's essay.
I will be using my mother's recipe for stuffing, as Thanksgiving does not seem like Thanksgiving without it. A cornbread stuffing with onions and celery. Very simple. Thought I was going to have a happy-to-lucky meal with no stress, but have ended up with more invitees than I imagined. Everyone is welcome on a day like this. I remember one Thanksgiving in college when I was too broke to go home and I ended up eating fried eggs over rice all alone. I don't want anyone left alone on that day, knowing how it feels. So even though I am unwell, and do not have the energy I wish I did to make this meal truley spectacular, I will do the best I can, welcome all who come, and embrace the day giving thanks that I am still upright and mobile and have loved ones who love me back. Wishing the same to all of you.
more on the honor rollThanksgiving has always been--bar none-- my favorite holiday. Years ago we never knew for sure who would be joining us as I was always inviting foreign students to join us. It was such a good time to share the meanings and foods of such an American holiday tradition with them. My mom told me once that she always told her friends back home that she loved visiting my house because it was like being at the UN!!! Truly we never knew what accents would be heard at dinner, but it was always a wonderful time. A few years ago about this time I recieved a card in the mail from one of the students who'd feasted with us several times telling me how fond his memories were and what it had meant to him. Even if it didn't impact on our guests it always impacted on us. And I'm ever thankful that we've been fortunate enough to live in such a cosmopolitan university community.
Georgia - I sympathize about the lack of family....Both of my parents have long been dead, no siblings, cousins far away in Fla. having other cousins and their 6 kids together
Here, friends have gone separate ways, my own 2 kids are off doing their own things (dau. to Penna., son "out of town"), so housemate and I will host one same age friend whose one son and his family have gone to the wife's family out of state, and we will chat, have a fire in the fireplace, enjoy bloody marys, watch the Macy's parade, go to the clubhouse for the 2:00 turkey and trimmings, then come back and watch football or play dominoes while the game is on.
She and her pretty puppy, a Pomeranian mix, will spend the night, and we will fix coffee, rolls, scrambled eggs, and chat more the next day. She is a friend of over 50 years, so she is easy company and we enjoy her presence. A different friend who has had a host of health problems the past year is now back in the hospital with unspecified internal hemorrhaging, so I am worried about her. I am paying a lady tomorrow to go clean her house so that when she gets back from the hospital, her house will be neat and clean for her. Her Thanksgiving meal will be through an IV in the arm. We - the rest of us - have much for which to be grateful.
Who would have thought we could occupy a whole day talking about stale breadcrumbs. Coco the cat tells me it's past duvet time, so nos da, dear people.x.
WAIT<HAZE>...Moos is going to explain turkey,mashed potato and gravy through an I.V., and I,for one,am intently interested! Now, How do you do the pumpkin pise,and especially,the whipped cream,through the I.V....Hmmm???
Home again home again jiggity jig. Love your Hillbilly Karma-Tennessee. Moose- food is food but also a metaphor for the blessing of life. Being a good friend is a noble feat. Last night I grabbed a late night combo burrito at El Faro in Chicago and it was the biggest tastiest Mexican delight imaginable. Cinco stars! Ivan and Kinky, now them's a couple of Texas swells. Fo sho! Spent the morning in Milton, Wisconsin. Neat little town! I love America!
T.T.~ right down the road from the world famous Hormel Chili plant...gateway to WEEEEEEsconsin YAAAAY
RY- a bowl of Hormel- crumble up them saltines and fire up an Old Style or three and relive the campfire scene from Blazin' Saddles.
I think I feel slighted TT was 3.5 hours away from me today & didn't even try to come up to Titletown to say hi :-( Actually TT- I was stuck in Milton a few years ago after a Brewers game. It is a nice little town and I have some fun memories of being in the area.
R90- y'all ain't afraid of no Lions...
Ivan, your generosity of time and spirit is wonderful. ...just wonderful. I really admire you for it.
Lynn, it's also nice of you to donate turkeys and hams.
Many years ago, everyone came to our house and I did everything...the turkey, cornbread stuffing, side dishes and pies. Now I'm so happy that the family does more of a pot luck where one does the turkey, one the dressing, etc. Since we've been having Thanksgiving at my step-daughter's, her husband does a couple of turkeys...one barbcued and one oven roasted. She's afraid of stuffing, so I've been fixing dressing for my offering. At home I still roast a small turkey with stuffing.... first I bake cornbread and tear stale bread I've saved up into small pieces .... saute the mushrooms, celery and onions .... add those ingredients to the cornbread/bread mixture, season with Bell's Seasoning, moisten... being careful not to add too much stock (I boil the giblets and heart) ... I don't like it gummy .... then stuff the bird.
I'm with you Nachista...I see no reason not to stuff since I remove the stuffing immediately upon taking the turkey out of the oven .... have never had a problem. I do a separate pan of dressing and set the neck on top to add the benefit of a few drippings, plus I also squirt some juices over the dressing when I'm basting the turkey, so my dressing is flavorfully moist....even so, it can't compete with stuffing.
After, I make soup with the carcass...lots of celery with leaves, carrots, brown rice....always really good soup.