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One thing I am thankful for is not having to eat turkey on Thanksgiving if I don’t want it.
And, I don’t. The cold, hard truth is, I’ve never cared for turkey.
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it to be dry, stringy meat that just doesn’t taste good. People who observe my distaste for turkey always ask: What’s wrong with you?
Then, they proceed to tell me eating turkey on Thanksgiving is a tradition. True, but I suspect if the pilgrims and Indians had been offered ham or fried chicken we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
Folks also tell me that I just haven’t eaten a turkey that is prepared right. They say, oh, if it is prepared a certain way, it will be moist. Never been my experience, even when I tried it prepared several different ways.
In my mind, even if the turkey dies of drowning before it is put on the Thanksgiving table, it still wouldn’t be moist.
While we are at it, I suspect whoever invented giblet gravy was in search of a way to moisten up the dry-as-sand turkey and make its tastelessness edible.
What exactly are giblets anyway? Nevermind. Take it from me. You don’t want to know.
And, cranberry sauce is another thing. I am convinced there are only about a dozen cans of cranberry sauce the world over and they just keep getting recycled year after year. No one really eats cranberry sauce. And, even if we did, my guess is it is to wash the turkey and giblet tastes out of our mouths.
No, thank you, to all of that.
Our Thanksgiving meal consisted of beef brisket, rice and gravy, creamed corn, macaroni and cheese, corn bread, dressing, ham, squash casserole and desserts. At the gathering for Mama’s family, Colonel Harlan Sanders, or at least some of his corporate descendants fried up some chicken for us. We had macaroni there, too. Macaroni has been a staple in our family since Yankee Doodle stuck that feather in his cap.
My grandmother, God rest her soul, would fix roast beef, ham, fried chicken and, yes, even the lowly turkey, just to make sure everyone got something they liked at each Thanksgiving.
Don’t get me wrong. Considering the meaning of the holiday, I don’t want to come across as un-thankful.
I am truly and most sincerely thankful. I am thankful for what I have been blessed with and I am, indeed, blessed beyond measure.
If you are blessed to eat turkey, giblet gravy and you end up with that much rotated can of cranberry sauce on your table this Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for that, too.
I’m just as thankful, none ended up on my plate.
Just don’t forget to pass the chicken, please.
