I have made the Thanksgiving feast for my immediate and some extended family for about two decades now. But I do not make it like Mom did. Before you begin to feel sorry for my husband and children, let's take a time travel machine back to the 1970's and sample a bit of my standard childhood Thanksgiving fare:
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| No need to fight over the drumstick at the kids table, because there wasn't one to fight over. We only had these compressed breast meat turkeys. In fact, I'd never even seen a whole bird until I ate Thanksgiving at my inlaws for the first time. |
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| We were a family that lived on convenience foods, and mashed potatoes from a box was one of them. We also only ever had 'Minute Rice.' To this day, I can't figure out why waiting an extra 19 minutes on rice was that a big a deal to Mom. And it goes without saying that the gravy came from a jar. |
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| I sincerely thought this was the only sort of stuffing out there. And truth be told, I actually prefer this to homemade. I like the texture and strong herb/sodium flavor. You can make fun of me for that. |
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| This is probably the most normal part of our meal for most people. I'm certain if I attempted to serve a real cranberry relish like I did one year, my kids would be disappointed to not have the can shaped sauce on our table. |
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| Mom, could you at least have served us frozen corn? Dad did buy you that ginormous microwave when they first came out! |
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Believe it or not, my mother's mother won blue ribbons for her pies at her local county fair every fall. My own mom, however, served us our frozen pie with Cool Whip.
I have never discussed with my mother her lack of cooking that continues to this day. I'm certain it's a sensitive topic, and we have enough issues! Mom grew up on a farm with seven siblings. She was the second to the youngest, so I know she wasn't cooking to feed the younger ones and simply grew tired of it. And I know that her mom DID cook and can, so it's a mystery why those skills were not passed on. My only guess is that mom thought she was leaving the farm life behind when she moved to suburbia in the early 1960's. Television and magazines made homestyle cooking look passé. Maybe mom thought she was being a modern woman, serving us our TV dinners and Tang?
I was just thankful that we dined in restaurants for Christmas Eve and Easter. |
Wow. . . I guess we were pretty Traditional. I only ever remember having a real bird, with home-made stuffing, real mashed potatoes, and maybe some frozen squash. And pumpkin and apple pies (I honestly don't remember if they were home-made or store-bought; Mom didn't bake a whole lot, but she did some)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely recognize the can-shaped slices of cranberry jelly. . .
Sweet! Most Thanksgivings we went to our Aunt and Uncles place but the few times we had it at home my Mom was apparently trading recipes with yours. Small world this is ....
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Mmmm, turkey pieces/parts
My aunt traded recipes with craig's mom I think ....
Oh boy, this post brought back a TON of Thanksgiving Day dinner memories for me!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, my mother actually used several of these items for dinner. The turkey and mash potatoes she cooked from scratch, however she did use canned corn, canned cranberry sauce, and boxed Sara Lee Pumpkin Pie (which btw, I LOVED). And believe it or not, when I got older, I did try the Hungry Jack boxed mashed potatoes and truly ended up liking them more than REAL mashed potatoes.
Personally, I'm not gifted in the 'cooking department', so all of these items you listed here would be perfectly fine for me for Thanksgiving Day dinner.
Fun post, my friend. Enjoyed it!
Hope you had a faaaaabulous day!
X
My mom made turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes homemade but the veggies were canned or frozen, cranberries and gravy canned, and the pies were usually bought frozen.
ReplyDeleteShe wasn't into complicated recipes and using alot of ingredients but we always had enough food and usually a hot meal for dinners.
Since we're doing work in our kitchen, I have no idea if we're having Thanksgiving here or going out.
Craig - Well then, I hope you have a good T-Day, like your mom used to make!
ReplyDeleteX - Our parallel lives is somewhat frightening!
Ron - I probably shouldn't be hating on Sara Lee; I found it rather tasty too. I can't believe you think mashed potato flakes tasted good!! That's funny! It was years before I understood what people meant by 'lumpy' mashed potatoes!
CC - I imagine cooking anything is difficult during a kitchen renovation. Good luck!
I've never been a big fan of turkey. I think that the only time of year that I actually eat it is on Thanksgiving. I'd rather have chicken.
ReplyDeleteGive me stuffing or give me death! And don't confuse stuffing with dressing. Stuffing = inside the bird (i.e. stuffed); Dressing = stovetop or oven cooked.
We're having Thanksgiving at my sister's this year, and she learned at Mom's knee, so I imagine we'll be just fine. My sisters have added a few items over the years - a sweet-potato casserole that's more like a pie-sans-crust, and an excellent curried-fruit dish. Also the green-beans-in-mushroom-soup thing has become pretty much of a standard. . .
ReplyDeleteRuss is right, of course, as to stuffing. Mom always made about twice as much as would fit inside the bird; the extra she just cooked in a bowl in the oven. But we always fought to get the stuff that was actually inside the bird. . .
Yes, I imagine the similarities are frightening for you. :-)
ReplyDeleteFor me it's nice to know someone can relate!
Queenie will be whipping up Thanksgiving dinner this year. She does it up right!
We did the real turkey and so on. But we did have that cranberry jelly right out of the can. These days I have seafood plus the traditional sides.
ReplyDeleteMy mom is in charge of bringing desserts to our family Thanksgiving. One of the desserts is already prepped and ready - that Sara Lee pumpkin pie. The second dessert is an actual recipe her sister requested and my mom is, seriously, a little out of her mind that she has to cook something. This is a woman who cooks frozen pizzas and then freezes the slices to have for dinners throughout the month, so this is a big deal! I will be choosing the homemade dessert when the day arrives (and if I'm hungry later that night, I can go to her house for some of that frozen pizza...).
ReplyDeleteRuss - I don't really like turkey either. I swear it tastes gamey to me, even when it's the Butterball kind. And I guess I only like dressing then.
ReplyDeleteCraig - Anything with sweet potatoes is good! Enjoy your day at your sisters!
X - I'm glad that Queenie will treat you to a real Thanksgiving!
Agent - If I weren't in the sole minority, it would be spinach lasagna for T-Day here.
FADKOG - Hilarious! Your mom and mine definitely must be part of the same generation. My mom has graduated a bit. If asked to bring dessert, she will at least buy a bakery pie. They are good, but still not as good as I can make at home. I told her this year that I would just handle everything. It stresses her out too much as well.
We grew up in such similar households that's scary. I mean --
ReplyDeleteChildhood flashbacks!
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Happy T-Day!
i think your mother and mine may be the same women....or at least closely related. it's only been 2 years since she got a roasting oven and started doing the bird in that. since then she has permitted me to make gravy from the pan drippings...before that, and to me extreme horror she'd pour them down the sink.
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