Wednesday, November 27

Day of Thanks

When I sent out an email asking for everyone's favorite menu item at Thanksgiving, the last answer I expected was turkey. I mean, come on. Americans used to only eat the Big Bird at Thanksgiving and maybe Christmas, but now we eat it year round in millions of turkey sandwiches and salads.

Thus I was surprised to find out that fully half of the respondents to that question love the turkey more than anything else on the groaning Thanksgiving table. Not only that, but people managed to work the turkey into the answers to all the questions posed. For instance, Amy Wood's most cherished Thanksgiving traditions? "If you mean something that's common to everyone, then definitely TURKEY!!!!! And overeating" (emphasis decidedly Amy's, thank you very much).

I guess there is a reason we call the fourth Thursday in November Turkey Day.

What interested me even more than the surfeit of turkey-lovers who read this column was the huge variation in everyone's traditional meal. Gino Bona, sportswriter and cook extraordinaire, reports that his Thanksgiving meal generally includes more Italian sides, including the giant antipasto he serves as the salad course. My dad loves a shrimp hors d'oeuvre we always have, served with remoulade sauce that my brother crafts using a lot of patience and a Mason jar. A vicious fight seems likely if I should ever seat the bread stuffing eaters and the cornbread dressing devotees at one table, and even within the groups, there is dissent: oysters or sausage? Scallions or Vidalias? Raisins/currants/dried cranberries/cherries or fruitless?

It seems clear that everyone loves the potato portion of the meal. The plain potato portion, that is. Anne Sorkin reviles the sweet potato despite her best efforts, saying "I keep trying, but I am no fan of the sweet potato." She is happy to eat the marshmallows off the top of a pan of candied sweets, though, which very same marshmallows repulse John Hannon. Meanwhile, the plain potato recipes poured in all shapes and sizes. In the spirit of the season, my favorite-web-designer Karin Tracy actually combines the regular potato with the sweet (see recipe page).

Sometimes there are differences between family members, too. Sue Anne Bottomley, whose art graces this site, says that "As my children have mentioned before, I am a big fan of root crops." One of her children, who shall remain nameless, answered that she "was never fond of the Brussel sprouts or parsnips my mom tried to foist on us." (Oddly, Betty Adams also responded that "even the thought of Brussel sprouts or parsnips on my plate is repulsive." I had no idea that Brussel sprouts and parsnips were officially the most hated vegetables of children whose parents are from New England.) There is a certain faction of daughters of Southern women who aren't quite sure what the relish tray is or why it still appears on the table every year, either.

Speaking of Southern, a major cultural rift exists between the Southerners and the Northerners who replied. Northerners love their root veggies, and Southerners are passionate about cornbread dressing and Bourbon, not necessarily together! It also seems that Southerners branch out more from the traditional pumpkin and apple pies, adding not only pecan pie but cakes and custards and even ice creams to the mix. If you would like to try a true New Englander's pumpkin pie, described as "a dark, fragrant, not overly sweet pie," you need only click through to the recipe page.

All my respondents did seem to agree on one thing: alcohol. It appears that everyone enjoys taking a day every year to get together with friends and family and drink. Sometimes, drink a lot. Mentioned specifically as part of various readers' family traditions were: bourbon. Wine. Champagne. Stout. Bourbon again. Zinfandel specifically. Hard apple cider ("what the Pilgrims drank," though I'm not sure what historical volume correlates this). Scotch and soda. Bourbon AGAIN. I myself think that a bourbon and ginger is in order and I will follow the directions on the recipe page to make it on Thursday.

Finally, the award for Most Enchanting Thanksgiving Tradition? Susan Donley, for the following answer: "Cooking all day by myself while listening to Carole King ‘Tapestry' over and over and over. Heaven!!!" The Vince Lombardi "No Such Thing As Second Place" Award goes to Gino Bona, for his manlier answer: "Football, bourbon and a nap."

I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving celebrated with your nearest and dearest. We really do have so much to be thankful for, including friends, family, abundant delicious menus and tons of drink options.

(And, of course, the Cowboys-Redskins game that kicks off at 4:00 – perfectly timed between the first round of food and the early-evening turkey sandwich.)