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From my Remembrance Book: Thanksgiving

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By Joan G Friedman

I can picture Mother at the oven, basting the turkey and preparing the Thanksgiving feast. I am sorry that I never paid more attention to the roasting of the turkey. I am equally sorry that I am doing my first turkey at the age of 49.

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It seems that I would have done a better job if I had started at a younger age!as though it is hard to cook something for the first time at my age. Holidays were always prepared by Mother and it never even occurred to me to be more than just an assistant to her at those times.

I really never wanted to go near a turkey anyway. Mother would never tell me to do anything and I chose to keep my distance. Whenever I asked, she was very willing to share information. It was my choice to not want to go near that bird.

Since this will be my first turkey someone told me that, in order to have a moist bird, it helps if you wash and quarter an orange and a lemon and (oy) stick them inside. Frankly, I did not want to get that personal with the poor bird. It was difficult enough to clean it out you-know-where.

We will be having 12 people around the table. On the chance that the turkey will be fowl, I am also making Tzimmes. This is one of my favorite recipes from my grandmother. You don’t use any kind of a looks-like-an-animal. The meat is already dead and doesn’t have the shape of anything recognizable, like wings or a beak. I know the Tzimmes will be great — mostly because I will not be sticking anything unusual in it.

I had to go across town to get a big enough kosher turkey. All the hassle of fighting traffic, and imagining putting a leash on the poor thing and taking it home!Just because it is dead does not mean it doesn’t have feelings.

Now yesterday I find out that we won another turkey in a raffle at Shul. Wonderful. Now mine will have a playmate.

So I bring the new one home (and say "Don’t fight, play nice") and today I get a phone call. There is a family who we have given meals to in the past and no one is making them a Thanksgiving dinner. Tomorrow I have to find out if I can just give them the bird (!) and let them cook it (or whatever they want to do to it) or if I have to stick an orange in this one, too.

The things one does for a holiday. The 5 rules are: Wash it, Stuff it, Cook it, Carve it, and Eat it.

Daughter Marcy reminded me that someone gives her turkey orange juice to drink. I suppose we can do that. And two others suggest that we put it in a tent. I guess that’s what Abraham did with his on Thanksgiving Day.

As for me, right now I am on my way to the Army-Navy store. I hope they have one left.

Grandma Mary’s Tzimmes—a nice sweet side dish to serve with poultry

6 medium sweet potatoes ½ lb cubed chuck
¾ lb pitted prunes 2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt ¾ cup sugar

Peel and slice potatoes. Put a layer each of potatoes and prunes into pan. Place meat in center. Add remaining potatoes and prunes. Cover with salt and water. Add sugar. Place in oven preheated to 350 degrees. Continue baking until water is absorbed and the Tzimmes is nicely browned. Serves 6.

A shortcut: use canned or frozen sweet potatoes (in place of the fresh ones) and add them for the last 20-30 minutes.


Posted by FJN Admin on 11/25 at 01:00 AM • Hits: 941



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