As far as holidays go, Thanksgiving is really the best. It’s all about food. And being thankful, of course. But it’s just one day. Our entire collection of Thanksgiving decorations fit in a single box. Without exaggeration, the decking of the halls in our home takes a solid week. Sometimes longer. Granted it’s a little over the top with every dish, towel, mug and platter being swapped out by a festive Christmas-themed replacement of its kind. The absence of gift gifting with Thanksgiving eliminates so many added layers of stress related to the holidays.
Family Memories
My memories of sitting around our dining room table in Pompton Lakes with my family, adult cousins and grandparents are permanently embedded in my mind and I will never stop cherishing them. Very early on, my sister, brother and I realized the prominence of the holiday because our mom had us make turkey place cards for everyone attending by tracing our hands with colored pencils.
Our Thanksgiving dinner began with fruit cup, right out of a can of Del Monte. Back in the 70s this was fancy schmancy! My Poppy was always in charge of carving the turkey and we always had my Nanny’s stuffing. For me, Thanksgiving is very simple. All I really want in abundant quantities is turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry, what my family refers to as “the broccoli” which means a broccoli casserole made with Ritz crackers and, of course, pumpkin pie for dessert. That’s it.
Even though deep frying a turkey results in adding far more flavor to this usually bland bird, I just can’t do it. But, of course, we do live in New Jersey and I don’t want to stand outside in the cold at the end of November frying a turkey. I prefer waking up early, turning on the Macy’s parade and getting the turkey in the oven by 9 AM so that the entire house starts to smell really good. My turkey looks like the cover of the Williams-Sonoma cookbook, smothered in butter and herbs.
We always ate early because our relatives had to get back to the city. All these years later my favorite part of Thanksgiving continues to be the late night turkey sandwiches. Growing up my best friend lived around the corner and each year after her family finished with their family gathering, the doorbell would ring and Cin Cin would join us in our turkey sandwich making festivities. It was simply wonderful. Start with what we folks in New Jersey call a hard roll. Split the roll in half, add a little mayo and salt and pepper to both sides, pile on slices of turkey but leave room for some stuffing and cranberry sauce.
Everyone has their favorite version of what Thanksgiving stuffing should look and taste like and there’s no doubt I’d enjoy every single one of them. Some people refer to it as dressing but to me that goes on salad. It would not be Thanksgiving to my family without my Italian grandmother’s stuffing. It’s very simple and is best made a day or two before.
Nanny’s Thanksgiving Stuffing
2 celery stalks diced
2-3 onions diced
Sauté celery and onion with a 1/2 stick of butter. Add dried oregano and fresh thyme (my addition). Cook on low heat for about 30 minutes
Take the casing off of 2 or 3 sweet Italian sausages and cook in a pan. Drain, mince and add to the celery and onions mixture.
In a bowl: beat 2 eggs, a 12 ounce bag of cubed stuffing (can never go wrong with Pepperidge Farm), 1/4 cup of milk, and 2 cans (14.5 oz) of beef bouillon. Mix well. When the crouton mixture is soft, about 30 minutes, add the celery, onions and sausage.
Over the course of an afternoon, continue turning the mixture every 30 minutes so it is blended nicely together. Transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, paprika and dots of butter.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Freezes well.
I realize turkey isn’t the most exciting meal in the world. In my ever so humble opinion, lasagna isn’t served on Thanksgiving. It’s an American holiday and I am grateful. I look forward to it every year.