Thanksgiving has always been my favorite Holiday of the year. On this day, my family gets together. The women gather in the kitchen. The men watch football, always the Lion´s game.Delicious dishes cook in the kitchen starting with Turkey, slow oven-roasted, stuffed with home-made cornbread dressing. The cornbread dressing recipe is a very old one received in the 1950´s from my Dad´s very best friend, Bill, his African American co-worker in the auto plant in Michigan.
Every year, as my husband is watching football and the turkey aromas are arising from the kitchen, he always swears he will not eat all day until dinner is ready. However the smells get to him by noon. I always have a platter of fresh veggies, cheese and olives ready for him to snack on. This year I am including another of his favorites, I call this snack weenie-deenies. They are little smoked sausages bubbling in barbecue sauce.
In the kitchen, the cooking continues. The dishes include home-made mashed potatoes and turkey gravy. This part is tricky. The potatoes are peeled, placed into a pot and boiled until almost tender. Then they are mashed, mixed with salt, butter and milk. Bowls of gravy are made from the giblet broth, drippings and flour, with a small mix of sautéed onions. The giblets are boiled to produce the broth. The broth for the gravy. The giblets for the cornbread dressing which also includes sautéed onions and celery.
Our family has always enjoyed vegetables. We like the basics, including fresh lightly boiled broccoli and corn.
Fresh rolls and a side salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and olives top the feast. While some include cranberry dressing and sweet potatoes, we always opt not to include them.
Deserts, which we set on the side and save for later in the early evening, include home-made pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie with fresh made whipped cream. For those who prefer, we have home made pecan tarts.
We cannot begin the meal, however, without our Thanksgiving moment of Thanks. Each of us who surround the table give thanks! We each take a moment to say what we are most Thankful for from the previous year! Sometimes the comments are funny, but most times they are very touching. Our hearts swell with each word of thanks!
Our Family Loves Thanksgiving!
I wish you all have a Happy Thanksgiving too!!
PS: As a Special Gift, I have added my favorite Thanksgiving Song in the Upper Right Hand Corner of my Blog. This reminds me of when I sang in my Catholic church choir. I LOVEd to sing this song! Believe it or not, I do have a nice voice.
And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your extended family and to everyone who have shown the interest to express their opinions here in the best tradition of the first amendment. We all always have something to be thankful for, especially the opportunity to be with friends and family with good conversation and good food.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ulty!
ReplyDeleteI think we ALL do have Something to be Thankful for!
On this forum, we all do bicker with each other, but in the end, at least we are talking!!
Dee, you are making me hungry! Thank you for this blog and for the good work you're doing. I am grateful for all the good people in this country who are generous and compassionate to those who are less fortunate. You exemplify this spirit, and I admire you very much. Have a very happy Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
ReplyDeleteAnalisa
I almost thought I went to the wrong blog! Whoa!
ReplyDeleteIMO, Dee, you sound like quite the foodie, not that I'm complaining. I am craving a little pumpkin pie with my morning coffee, though!
Happy Thanksgiving to All!
Dave,
ReplyDeleteYou can say that, especially on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been a time of family togetherness.
My parents started the tradition. We had 10 children and little money. My mother was a wonderful chef and was very good at stretching the menu. Along with the turkey, she made potatoes and the cornbread dressing I referenced. Sometimes we had tamales. If we had tamales, all of the comadres in the neighborhood got together for the pasting of the corn husks and creation of the tamales. Always an adventure.
Sometimes we had Barbacoa. For this, sometimes we would have a cowshead in the refrigerator. One year she had me go to the butcher shop and to purchase "chickmit". The butcher didn´t know what I was talking about and I had to call home. She kept repeating, "Chickmit, chickmit," then finally said ´cachete´ so I finally got it and relayed my order for cheek meat to the butcher.
In later years, as each older brother and sister married and had children, my parent´s house was overflowing with family. In those days, we gathered hands and prayed. We talked and laughed through the entire meal.
We never had money, but it didn´t matter. My mother was the best cook. We had family. We were together. We were surrounded in Love!