My favorite holiday is Memorial Day.
I don't care for College football and who wants to watch the Cowboys or the Lions.
Even the parade is gonna suck this year.
It's gonna be way too political.
Michaleen Flynn: No patty-fingers, if you please. The proprieties at all times. Hold on to your hats
Well, this made me laugh, because the pants look like cupcake paper.
ReplyDeleteHey, Christie is real!
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving, when I could worship my big cousins Arthur and Laura, magnificent twelve year olds to my insignificant nine. Plus there were my uncles Carl, Joe, George and Nat, all incomprehensible but wreathed-in-cigarsmoke fascinating. Married to my mother's four sisters, Rose, Sadye, Florence and Mary, the "Four Pillars of God." Oh it was great to be a kid surrounded by family at the wide deep table in the big warm house. Sentimental? You bet. How can you not love such a sentimental feast?
ReplyDeleteI'm the exact opposite. Love College football. Love turkey, stuffing, etc.
ReplyDeleteDon't like parades though. Never saw these big parades (rose bowl, macy's, etc) in person, but on TV they are boring.
Worse thing about Thanksgiving when I was growing up was the TV. Only 6 channels and one always had that boring Spenser Tracy-Pilgrim flick on.
ReplyDeleteI hated that movie as a kid, blah, blah, blah. I kept thinking: where are the sword fights?
ricpic, It's interesting how immigrants come to embrace Thanksgiving. When I was young, the men would go to the Thanksgiving 10am Bristol Central HS[Aaron Hernandez alma mater] vs Bristol Easter HS. When we got home we would eat the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Then my old man would make lasagna. When most normal people were eating turkey sandwiches we ate a lasagna dinner @ 6pm. By the time I was in college the lasagna was dropped and we had sandwiches like Americanos.
ReplyDeleteThe movie, Avalon has a nice account of Jews embracing Thanksgiving. In my adult year, it is my favorite holiday. Mexican immigrants around here in Wi. have been pretty quick to embrace the traditional holiday. My old man used to speak somewhat derisively about "the Americanos" mostly in relation to food. He wisely understood as his kids became high school and college age that we were going to be Americanos w/ a love of our heritage. He completely stopped using that word.
I love Thanksgiving, but I'm not having it this year. Everybody has a complicated schedule. The kids have their in-laws plus us plus their friends coming in form out of state. The nieces and nephews coming home from college want to see their friends and hit the bars. Everyone else is a liberal.
ReplyDeleteThe same thing is shaping up for Christmas. Mrs. Haz and I made a decision: We're hosting a Thanksgiving/Wedding Anniversary/Christmas/Packer Sunday party on December 15th.
We're going to bug out for the north woods for Thanksgiving, volunteer to serve other people dinner at a senior center. And then we'll go home, light a fire, have some wine, laugh and yell at each other "You cut the toikey? You cut the toikey mitout me??!"
Then we'll strip naked, dash outside to the sauna, get sweated up, flop in the snow and do it again.
Meanwhile, guilty-feeling relatives will hope that we aren't feeling bored and alone. If they only knew.
I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite weather and it's one of the few holidays that encourages Americans to enjoy cooking and eating and talking.
ReplyDeleteToo bad that stupid football game crap had to ruin it.
I hate all holidays actually. I feel every Sunday should be for food and family and happiness. The way it was when I used to go to Grandma's house.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving just means overeating and crappy turkey. I much rather have pasta and meatballs and a big salad on a normal Sunday. Seriously.
I should apologize for messing up that thread at Lem's. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteTrooper, I agree about crappy turkey. I'd much rather have rib roast or lasagna or even a smoked ham. Turkey is dry and bland.
ReplyDeleteItalian families always served lasagna at Thanksgiving (along with the turkey and traditional fare). Or so I've been told.
ReplyDeleteI do love that TG scene in Avalon.
ReplyDeleteTurkey is only dry and bland if you don't cook it right. In any case, its not the Turkey that makes Thanksgiving, its the Gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin/mincemeat/whatever pie.
ReplyDeleteGood God, I've had Lasagna & Scrimp Scampi on Thanksgiving and yeah -its better than Turkey. But I can eat that stuff the other 364 days a year.
Thanksgiving is all about Tradition. And sweetness and fat.
Would you go to Italy and eat hamburgers? Go to Japan and eat a burrito? Or eat some Mongolian Beef on Christmas? (I mean if you weren't Jewish or Chinese)
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving + turkey = tradition.
Never apologize pilgrim. It's a sign of weakness.
ReplyDeleteSushi is a Japanese burrito.
ReplyDeleteThe part I most like about Thanksgiving is setting aside a day to give Thanks. That's what the holiday means to me, and the food can be anything. I made the traditional turkey meal for a large extended family for three decades.
ReplyDeleteI think I just grew tired of turkey and like a change sometimes.
Thanksgiving just means overeating and crappy turkey
ReplyDeleteOh darling. You've never had Thanksgiving with me!
Splatchcock it. It tastes better.
ReplyDeleteAnd turkey when it is cooked right (or rather not over cooked) is absolutely wonderful.
So is lasagna.
And for many, both are part of Thanksgiving. Along with stuffed claims.
Stuffed claims? I did not know you were in the insurance industry.
ReplyDeleteWhat is with auto-incorrect?
ReplyDeleteTurkey is not dry and bland if you brine it overnight. Trooper sounds just like my old man. However, while I agree turkey is not anything special, try brining it, you'll find it very moist and more flavorful.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was poor and living in KC all of us refugees w/ families far away would get together. I made my first turkey @ 22. Others would bring their family tradition. I made the turkey, potatoes and gravy. People would bring their family favs from green bean casserole to jello salad[yuck!] to cole slaw, kale, chittlins. It was fascinating. For my Irish mom it was mashed turnips. Those produced more methane than a big city landfill.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Palladian. Thanksgiving is a cooking and eating event. We don't watch football....at all.
ReplyDeleteDeep frying a turkey is a great way to cook it if you have the space and equipment. When we had our deli (smoked foods...trout mostly but also smoked turkey, buffalo smoked and bbq meats of many kinds. The hot smoked chicken wings were to die for) we would get a big backlog of orders for the deep fried turkey. They are so juicy and tender. I can barely stand a regular roasted turkey anymore with the dried out breast meat and soggy dressing.
Like the Haz family, we are not doing a big family event either. I think we will roast a duck this year or do a standing rib roast.
Plus...today's cost for a turkey....forget it. I'm not spending 20 to 30$ on a turkey.
Brined smoked turkey recipe
ReplyDeleteIf you deep fry, instead of smoking or roasting, be REALLY sure to drain and dry thoroughly the outside AND inside before slowly dunking it into the hot oil. REALLY dry.....or else.
Pro tip: to avoid a fire because the oil boiled over the top of the pot: measure how much oil you are going to need by putting the unbrined turkey into the pot. Fill the pot with water to just cover the turkey. Remove turkey. Measure the water.....that's how much oil.
I gave up deep frying because unless you are doing several turkeys, it is just a waste of oil. You can try straining it for later use, but it tends to go off. Plus I like using good oil (peanut) and at $50 a container it gets pricey.
ReplyDeleteSmoking, however, always works.
Evi - how do you keep a turkey in your Zig Zags?
ReplyDelete@ Evi. True. The oil doesn't last once it has been used for frying the turkeys and the oil IS expensive.
ReplyDeleteWe usually deep fry a turkey for ourselves and if friends want, we also will process theirs. In addition whenever deep frying, we also brine up a half dozen or so chickens and process them, vacuum seal and freeze the chickens. So, we are doing 3 to 6 turkeys and at least that amount of chickens. That makes it more cost effective to use the peanut oil...which is the ONLY oil to use IMO.
We kept the industrial sealer and hundreds of different sized bags when we closed the store. Also the gas burner and all the large pans and pots.
:-)
I like cooking T-day dinner.
ReplyDeleteEating I can take or leave.