This is not about food failures or the stove burning out. This post is about the most basic elements of Thanksgiving--food, food not present.
If I have turkey, dressing, gravy, and cranberry sauce, the other food does not matter. I can have green beans or Brussel's sprouts; white potatoes or sweet potatoes; jellied or whole cranberry sauce. Just give me the basics I require and the rest of the menu is your choice.
One year about 35 years ago, a friend new to the town invited me to Thanksgiving dinner. Her husband was the head of the Walmart Distribution Center and they were fresh from Arkansas.
She said not to bring anything, just come. But, I brought a pumpkin pie. She said to come about 11 am, so I figured we would eat around noon or maybe as late as 2 pm. Well, the turkey was barely thawed and was not ready to go in the oven when I arrived.
When she finally got it in the oven, she proceeded to baste it. She would open the oven door and fiddle around trying to find potholders. She slowly basted and let the door hang open as she talked. I was so frustrated. She assured me she always basted, and no, leaving the door opened did not matter since she left it on.
I was sick with hunger. Husband was drunk. Finally, the two of us sat and ate around 4 pm.. He might have, too. Then, the worst thing happened--no cranberry sauce of any kind. It turns out they did not like cranberry sauce. They also did not like gravy. So, I gagged it all down, reminding myself to either ask about cranberry sauce and offer to bring some next time I was invited out.
As it turns out, some people do not serve turkey on Thanksgiving, and I can live with that. But, don't tease me. Have you ever gone to Thanksgiving dinner and discovered one of the basics was missing?
It turned out as the years passed I discovered people who do not serve either cranberry sauce or gravy. What kind of world is that? What kind of bad person am I to have simple expectations? Will I have to resort to carrying a can of cranberry sauce in my purse?
Don't come eat here, We never have cranberry sauce. I make fresh cranberry relish every year, but we never have the cooked or canned variety.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteIt is still cranberry. The iteration does not matter. I have been happy without the canned or cooked.
Turkey must have mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce. Those are the basics I must have, or make none at all. Some things are just set in stone for me.
ReplyDeletetewshooz,,
DeleteYou do understand! Yes, set in stone is the perfect expression!
Funny- we rarely have cranberry sauce since no one ever eats it. Occasionally I have made fresh- same thing. No one eats it. Gravy- yes! In fact I just gave a client of mine the recipe I use. 1/2 cup drippings or butter, 1/2 cup flour, seasonings and 6-8 cups broth. I like real broth and only have the boxed kind for emergencies. My daughter's inlaw do not make gravy though- she has learned to roast some turkey wings ahead of time and make her own and bring it. This year I am invited elsewhere and need to call again to see what they specifically want me to bring.
ReplyDeleteNan,
DeleteAt home we all ate cranberry sauce and both types were on the table. I get some of both. The gravy sounds delicious. If I were ever invited back to these places, I would carry my own gravy and cranberry sauce! Smart daughter!
Ohhh. I am writing down your gravy recipe Nan!!! I never know quite how to do it. I usually depend on someone else taking over the stove when it comes to the gravy. This year I might have a go!! Thanks Nan.
DeleteYou're welcome. Melt the butter, drippings and then add the flour. I use a whisk and keep stirring. Slowly add your broth whisking away and it will thicken- keep whisking so you won't get lumps. Add your salt/pepper. You can make ahead too and just let it warm on the stove. If per chance you still have lumps, you can blend or run it through a colander. Most folks aren't crazy about floury lumps haha.
DeleteNo gravy confuses me. It's not a must, but I like a little cranberry with my turkey but not my MIL's cranberry relish. Just no.
ReplyDeleteSam,
DeleteI have had good and not so good gravy, and just pan drippings called gravy. One person threw out the drippings, saying she did not want all that grease. So, a bunch of us attending told her how to make gravy without so much grease. From then on, we had gravy. I have had good and gross cranberry relish, so it depends.
Ok. I admit it. I laughed. Yes it is tough to head out for a traditional dinner and not get what you are used to. But when the hostess says "just bring yourselves" what else can you do? You did the right thing and just ate it. But when I host I usually say "Just bring yourselves but if you have something special you like, please bring that." That usually covers it. But I would think the hostess would have cranberry sauce and gravy. The hostess should tell you if she deplores something and doesn't make it, and please bring that if you must. Everyone should just be happy and a few things on your table you are not used to, should not be a problem. This year I was asked to bring dairy free mashed potatoes, which I am happy to do. The hostess knows my husband is dairy free. We were wondering how to work around that. The hostess made it simple! I use chicken broth instead of milk and I love it. The broth gives the potatoes an extra zip.
ReplyDeletetana50,
DeleteI could have used the five hours I watched her baste turkey to go buy a can of cranberry sauce! I got wise that year. I cooked potatoes in the broth in the crockpot and they were delicious, so I imagine those potatoes were great, too. Glad you laughed...lol.
I put cranberry sauce on the table every year and no one in my family ever ate it, so I finally just stopped having it. Though if I were to invite new people, I would have some. Gravy is just a must, haha. Even if you can't make it from scratch from the drippings, then at least buy a jar of turkey gravy.
ReplyDeleteOne,
DeleteI love cranberry sauce so much, I cannot imagine no one eating it. Oh, I have resorted to the packages of dry mix and jars. The way my shoulder is hurting now, it may be a jar of gravy! Thanks.
I had never had canned cranberry sauce before moving to the southwest. My parents lived outside Cape Cod in their early years of marriage, near the cranberry bogs, and my mother learned how to make her own cranberry sauce. The joke in our family growing up was repeating one of Archie Bunker's lines from the show All in the Family, "Don't you have any of the real stuff that slides out of a can?" Anyway, I didn't care much for cranberry sauce growing up, so I didn't care to put in the time to make it. Once I married, there were several years in a row when DH and I forgot to put out the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving dinner. One year, I put out the sauce (he bought canned) from two years prior.
ReplyDeleteDH knew, and refuses to learn, anything about food. Our first Thanksgiving dinner, before we were married, he showed up at my house after an overseas flight on Thanksgiving morning with a bag of groceries, including jarred gravy, and brown and serve rolls. I didn't remember to put the rolls in the oven, and they eventually went stale in my pantry. I have no idea what happened to the gravy.
In any case, DH found Ocean Spray cranberry sauce for $0.25/can at Grocery Outlet last spring. Cranberry sauce has been gracing our table frequently since then. I make a cranberry jello salad with it for special meals--I think Belinda at "Frugal Workshop" posted a recipe similar to the one I use.
My Thanksgiving must haves are turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole. I love stuffing/dressing too, but the kids don't, so I shamelessly use a bagged mix for DH and me--oh, how I miss my mother's oyster dressing and creamed onions.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Meg B,
ReplyDeleteI hear Archie say that and had forgotten it. thanks for the memory. Wow, living near cranberry bogs! I have always wanted to see one in person!
That is a great price for a can of anything. Ihave too much right now, but I never eat it with anything but poultry and dressing and gravy. I need to find that recipe. It sounds good. Oh, I have two one-pound bags of cranberries in the freezer.
Your must haves are sort of like mine. I love mashed potatoes, but would rather have dressing since I don't eat it often.
Husband sounds funny!
I admit I'm a bit of a Thanksgiving snob. I prefer to have it at our house because there are certain things my family MUST have. Dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy and jellied cranberry sauce are givens. I can even bypass the turkey, but the sides are very important.
ReplyDeleteCatrina,
DeleteFunny, but I asked Tommy about all this and told him some of the answers. He said he did like turkey but what he really wanted was the sides he hardly ever gets. Your must-haves are similar to mine. The gravy and cranberry sauce are important to me, too. Thanks. I like things cooked like I want them. So, I suppose we are both Thanksgiving snobs.
Even baked chicken requires cranberry sauce.....no matter the season - hence I buy 2 dozen cans every fall
ReplyDeleteCT,
DeleteHa, I never thought of eating cranberry sauce with baked chicken. Then, I would have to have stuffing. I think I will start eating more cranberry sauce. Thanks. I am going to start buying more Cranberry sauce now.
People get awfully queer about proper Thanksgiving vittles. My mother always makes two types of cranberries as the family is divided as to the style - but all agree some needs to be there
ReplyDeleteUrspo,
DeleteYes, we all have traditions and do not want any change. My mother put both kinds on the table for the same reason. So do I.