It is 9:22 AM on Thanksgiving morning. I got a run in so I’m feeling very good, energized and ready to start the cooking.
I thought I’d write just a brief entry to mark the holiday. We’re having three families over so things will be pretty lively. There is a faint thought in the back of my mind that the pressure is on and I better not screw up the turkey but I don’t stress at all. After this post I’ll read and re-read the recipes then get started with the preparation about 10 AM.
Since cooking a whole turkey is not something people usually do I think about the millions of families across the USA who are also busy in the kitchen this morning. I also wonder how many of those people are cooking a turkey for the first time and how many mishaps there might be. Some will have wonderful Thanksgivings, others will be mediocre and then there will be a few complete disasters. I imagine some are learning for the first time that you have to thaw a turkey many days in advance. I wonder how many smoke detectors may go off across the USA today.
We get our turkey from Sun Valley market – a small family owned grocer in Linda Mar. They have Diestel which are raised in California and supposedly under humane conditions although there was just a report by animal rights activists that one of the locations had some problems. I’m all for animal rights and if there are problems hopefully they will be addressed. In California there are many laws regarding animal rights so I’m assuming conditions are pretty good for the most part and these issues that have been reports are a one off.
Having said that, I’m still going to eat this turkey and not worry about it! I’m not much of a cook but I do the turkey, stuffing and home made gravy at Thansgiving. The recipe I like best has me cook the turkey upside down so all the juices go down to the breast which makes the meat very tender. I’ve learned there are many ways to cook a turkey but this one works for me and it comes out delicious.
American holidays are fun and I enjoy them immensely but I also think about the origins of many holidays and how made up most of them are. We talk about pilgrims, Native Americans and the Mayflower on Thanksgiving and developed a story where these two groups share a meal to help the hapless pilgrims. Unfortunately these pilgrims kept arriving and eventually killed the Indians and destroyed their way of life. If this were a just world the Indians should have had them deported straight back to England like a lot of Republicans want to do with today’s refugees. It is ironic we’re celebrating a day where refugees were welcomed yet Republicans and many Americans do not want to welcome the Syrians.
Therefore, I think Republicans and all those mean-spirited people who say awful things about the refugees shouldn’t be allowed to celebrate Thanksgiving. Instead, we should trace their lineage and send them back to whatever country their ancestors came from.
Happy Thanksgiving!
