Turkey Day
This New York Times Discussion on “required” Thanksgiving Day foods got me thinking about how particularly traditional my family is about Thanksgiving.
I don’t remember when we celebrated Christmas on December 25th. Easter is not discussed, birthdays are small affairs and generally thought to be avoided in my family. But Thanksgiving is always the same. We eat the exact same foods at the exact same times and do the very same activities.
Ours is a traditional menu:
1 Large turkey
Cornbread dressing
Cornbread dressing is really important to a lot of southerners. I’ll have you notice on that discussion there are many people saying “I MUST HAVE DRESSING, NOT STUFFING”. Of course, these are the same things, but we differentiate. I’ve only had white bread stuffing twice in my life, and both times it seemed mushy and weird compared to the more robust cornbread dressing. To each her own, I suppose.
Mashed Yams
Boiled, mashed, butter, brown sugar, then cooked in the oven. No, we never add marshmallows. That just seems gross to me.
Rice and Turkey Gravy
This one is important to me. I suppose it is somewhat weird to have rice instead of mashed potatoes, but we have yams too. I am a gigantic fan of white rice so I tend to eat waaay too many of the carby fatty goodness.
Turnip or Mustard Greens (both are in short supply in Minnesota)
Generally cooked with turnips and sometimes bacon, and served with hot sauce. I’ve never liked it, it’s too bitter!
Ocean Spray Cranberry Jelly
I am really hoping to change this tradition. Or perhaps just add real cranberry sauce to the mix..
Rolls
My grandmother makes refrigerated rolls every Thanksgiving. She’s not going to be here this year, so I guess I will make them?
Apple Pie
I had honestly never had pumpkin pie until I was 18..and that time I cooked it myself. My mom doesn’t like it, so we always have apple!
I think every year I try to change things a little bit. I’ve been cooking the traditional green bean casserole, and I really hope to, like I said, make real cranberry sauce with orange zest and maybe walnuts this year.
But this weekend is my housing cooperative’s Thanksgiving, so we are cooking a giant vegetarian meal for 30+ (although I do think we are cooking a turkey and hiding it from the veggies). I am going to make vegan cornbread dressing (which is easy if you can find a vegan cornbread recipe) and perhaps vegan green bean casserole, to add a little bit of tradition into the mix.
Although I will mention that my family is not going to be having Thanksgiving on Thursday.. my mom and I are going to go do meals on wheels, and cook on Friday.
