Fond memories of Thanksgiving — and what I don’t know about cooking
SCHOHARIE — A nice day was dawning as the Old Men of the Mountain gathered together at the Your Way Café in Schoharie on Nov. 18. I was fighting a cold of some sort and was not there this week in order to not pass along whatever it is I have.
Thanksgiving is next week and for many of us, it is among the most favorite of all the holidays.
I sent out an email to my fellow OFs, telling them I would not make Tuesday's breakfast and promptly heard back from another OF that he has COVID and would not be there either. Of course I heard from other OFs suggesting some time-honored recipes involving alcohol. I think I'll pass on that.
This is the time of year that none of us wish to be under the weather; this is the time of year when the OMOTM get to spend some quality time with their families and close friends. No fair getting sick for the next six or seven weeks.
But now? Now I get to demonstrate and prove just exactly how much I don’t know about cooking. My wife and I worked together on just about everything, including Thanksgiving dinner.
Let me tell you about the difference between knowing why she wanted the apples sliced a certain way for the apple pie vs. just cutting it up any which way.
Did I know she started making the stuffing the day before? Nope. It was my job to cut the stuffing bread into one-third- to one-half-inch cubes and toast to “just brown” in a 350-degree oven.
Did I know about frying celery and onions until clarified? Clarified!? What the hell is “clarified?” Then there is the “smell” test for the sage; mix it all together and let it sit overnight.
That was just half the stuffing prep work done the day before. Don't worry, I'm not going through all the steps for all the different parts to the perfect Thanksgiving Day dinner that I remember she put on every year.
She made a Jell-O fruit salad, which is easy enough, but how do you get the fruit suspended in it? I can handle the green-bean casserole and mashed potatoes. I'm good at mashing potatoes, but have no clue about how to make gravy. I remember standing there with a whisk stirring away until she told me to stop.
So now I buy it at the grocery store, which is right next to the wine and liquor store. Mustn’t forget to pick up a couple of bottles of wine.
Finally, I know how to stuff the turkey and I know how to use a meat thermometer and look for the pop-up thing to pop up.
I also am very good in the pie department. I no longer have to show off my skill at slicing the apple just so. I have long since discovered the Apple Barrel and their pies. I will buy two pies, an apple and a pumpkin. Mustn’t forget the ice cream and heavy cream.
The other thing I was good at was washing dishes and cleaning up as we went along. Midge, my wife, insisted on using the same utensils after I had just cleaned them!
It was Thanksgiving. It was fun preparing for it. I think we would order a pizza the night before. We would look forward to seeing our children and, after a while, our grandchildren, arriving for Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s.
Sometimes we invited a neighbor or a friend who was alone that year. Of course, we had our folks join us for many years. I am sure they did not mind passing the torch to the next generation.
So there is a little bit of my fond memories of Thanksgiving Days I had with my family over the years. The Old Men Of The Mountain wish all of you, your families and friends the very best of this very special day: Happy Thanksgiving.
Those who were healthy enough to enjoy breakfast at the Your Way Café on Tuesday morning were; Wally Guest, Harold Guest, Ed Goff, Roland Tozer, Gerry Chartier (not here on Nov. 19; Gerry was here last week and I missed him ), Frank Fass, Jamey Darrah, Wm Lichliter, George Wasburn, Frank Dees, Miner Stevens, Warren Willsey, Russell Pokorny, Wayne Gaul, Ted Feurer, Roger Shafer, Joe Rack, Mark Traver, Jack Morray, Herb Bahrmann, Lou Schenck, Bob Donnelly, Elwood Vanderbilt, Dave Hodgetts, John Dab, Paul Guiton, Allan DeFazio, and not me.