Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving day is the start of the holiday season and everybody looks forward to having a big traditional Thanksgiving dinner with their family and friends.

When we think of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, the image that usually comes to mind is the Norman Rockwell painting entitled “Freedom from Want”. The painting shows a family gathered around a perfectly set table. The grandmother is bringing a very large turkey to the table.

I believe that turkey became the accepted Thanksgiving dinner because it was the one food served at the first Thanksgiving dinner that was easily available to both city and country folks. Other foods enjoyed by the pilgrims and their Native American friends were venison, swan, duck, goose, partridge, and fish. Venison is not generally available and eating swan has fallen out of favor with most people. Duck is very tasty, as is goose, but neither can feed a large group of people. Turkeys can grow quite large and easily feed a large group of people.

When buying a turkey keep these points in mind:

• A good rule of thumb when buying your turkey is to get at least one pound per person. You might want to get a larger turkey if you are counting on leftovers.

• Consider getting a hen because they have more breast meat than toms. Since most people prefer white meat, that extra breast meat will come in handy.

• Toms will be larger in general but, because they have a larger bone structure, any tom weighing less than 21 pounds will be a bit on the bony side. That means you are paying for more bone than meat.

• Whenever possible, get a fresh bird rather than a frozen bird.

• Follow all food safety guidelines whenever handling poultry. That includes making sure the turkey and stuffing (if you are stuffing the bird) are cooked to at least 165 degrees.

Stuffing is the most important side dish. When stuffing is cooked in the turkey it is called stuffing, but when it is cooked in a baking dish it is called dressing. I strongly suggest that you cook your stuffing in a baking dish separately of the turkey for several reasons:

• According to the USDA guidelines, the turkey and everything in the turkey has to be cooked to 165 degrees. If the turkey is done but the stuffing is not, you have to keep on cooking. This will cause your turkey to be overcooked.

• Since the turkey has to rest for 15 minutes before serving and the dressing usually only has to cook for 15 minutes, you can cook your dressing while the turkey rests and then serve both hot.

• You have to loosely stuff the turkey for the stuffing to cook properly. That usually means you will have less stuffing than you need.

• If you use a recipe for dressing that uses the giblets of the turkey, you get a great turkey flavor without cooking it in the bird.

No traditional thanksgiving dinner would be complete without the cranberry sauce. Cranberry sauce is so simple to make that you might not ever eat the canned stuff again.

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup fresh orange juice
• 12 ounces fresh cranberries

1. In a medium saucepan, dissolve the sugars in the orange juice.
2. Add the cranberries and stir to mix.
3. Simmer the cranberries until they start to pop open.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.

Now all you have to do is add some gravy and the dinner is nearly complete.

To round out your traditional Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to try some of these recipes. For starters try:

• Pumpkin soup

Other sides can include:

• Scalloped potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Baked Sweet potatoes
• Broccoli casserole

These desserts will sweeten the memories of the day:

• Tiramisu
• Peacan pie
• Granita
• Sweet potato pie
• Glazed Maple Pecan cookies

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