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Friday, November 14, 2008

I love Thanksgiving Turkey



I remember the smell when we were kids. We went to bed that night with Mom putting the turkey in the oven to cook slowly all night. The next morning it was so tender and juicy it was falling off the bones and when you opened your eyes the house smelled like no other day of the year, enticing, exciting, delicious!

The dressing was made from end pieces of bread, leftover biscuits, rolls and cornbread from all year long that was tucked into the freezer. We would toast all the bread in the oven and then crumble it up in our hands into a pan. The gizzard and liver and other pieces had been boiling with a perfect combination of seasonings and was just right to pour all over the bread which had been layered with cut up boiled eggs, celery and the giblets that had been boiled.

It baked for hours covered in the oven, adding more broth when necessary. It cooked the rest of the day with everything else that had to be baked. That was sweet potatoes, pies, a cake and rolls for dinner. It was so saturated and moist it was like pudding. I haven't had that kind of dressing since I was a child. And topped with white pepper gravy when you ate it, which had been made from the broth left of the giblets.

Things are sure different now, the gravy comes from a bottle, the cranberry sauce from a can, the greens are pre-seasoned and ready to heat up fresh from the can! and no matter how well it's prepared it doesn't taste the same without the whole house smelling of Thanksgiving also, I miss that delicious aroma.

I think missing all the smells, not just the large groups of family and the hustle and bustle of 5 adult women in one kitchen is what makes the holiday sad for so many people, just missing it.

Maybe next year I will have a big house and prepare a real Thanksgiving dinner just like that, the one of old, maybe.

One thing for sure the reason for the holiday is the same - to say "thank You Lord" for all the things you have given us this year, for all the times you have intervened in our mistakes. Thank You for bringing us here again. From now to thanksgiving I am going to add a small post every day if anyone wants to join me. I want to say out loud how thankful I am, come on, join me every day.

4 comments:

  1. Yes! I remember the smells of Thanksgiving. Your description made my mouth water and my heart hungry for those days.

    Isn't it wonderful when a happy memory pops up out of nowhere and grabs you by the heart?

    Blessings,
    Jean

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  2. Yum, I'm hungry just reading this post! What a wonderful description. And your blog warms my heart, too. Thanks for sharing this link, Jean. You were right!

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  3. Thank you Crystal and it's nice to meet you.

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