Holiday Menus

[brianr]

That's because you don't have a charming origin story about Europeans and indigenous people gathering for a nice dinner of turkey and mashed potatoes, having a splendid time and living happily ever after. ... Or at least until about a year later, when a spike outside the European fort held the head of the leader of the indigenous group that showed up that day.

At least according to a story I read last year in the New Yorker. Fairly reliable source.

I think it was also due to cost. As I said, chicken was a food for special occasions in those days, now I eat it several times per week.

[serious crayons]

I think it was also due to cost. As I said, chicken was a food for special occasions in those days, now I eat it several times per week.

Yes, I wasn't aware at the time but I've seen things since since then about people cooking veal (!) because chicken was such a luxury.

I bet the chickens were happier in those days.   That is, chicken might have gotten cheaper due to the growth of factory-farmed as opposed to pasture-raised chicken.

[Front-Ranger]

As I feared, stores are starting to run low on Thanksgiving victuals. My favorite meat place is completely out of turkeys and Natural Grocers has an automated message saying it's out too. I was driven to order a frozen turkey  and I also ordered some turkey "tenderloins". Are those the same as the thighs you're cooking, Paul? I think I'll brine the frozen turkey after thawing so it will have more flavor. I'm still looking around for a fresh turkey as well.

[serious crayons]

As I feared, stores are starting to run low on Thanksgiving victuals. My favorite meat place is completely out of turkeys and Natural Grocers has an automated message saying it's out too. I was driven to order a frozen turkey  and I also ordered some turkey "tenderloins". Are those the same as the thighs you're cooking, Paul? I think I'll brine the frozen turkey after thawing so it will have more flavor. I'm still looking around for a fresh turkey as well.

After this conversation yesterday, I emailed the paper's consumer reporter to let him know of this possibility. He hadn't thought of it or come across it, so it was probably helpful to him.

Meanwhile, my son said that last year, when he couldn't come home, he and his roommates bought a turkey from, of all places, Popeye's! Apparently they sell them -- uncooked but with Cajun seasoning -- and my son said it was really good.

Sounds weird, but it might be worth a try if you have a Popeye's around. Popeye's was launched in New Orleans before it became a national chain and the founder worked really hard to perfect the recipes before opening. So remember the celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme? He as in NOLA, too, and always said he thought Popeye's had the best red beans and rice in town, which is saying a lot in NOLA.






 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Oh yes, traditional Minnesota hot dish.

Hotdish:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotdish

[Jeff Wrangler]

Sounds weird, but it might be worth a try if you have a Popeye's around. Popeye's was launched in New Orleans before it became a national chain and the founder worked really hard to perfect the recipes before opening. So remember the celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme? He as in NOLA, too, and always said he thought Popeye's had the best red beans and rice in town, which is saying a lot in NOLA.

First time I ever heard of Popeye's I kind of went, "Hunh?" I thought Popeye ate spinach. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

I also ordered some turkey "tenderloins". Are those the same as the thighs you're cooking, Paul?

My dad and I have started a search for turkey "cutlets." We figure to grill them, same as I do "chicken cutlets."

[serious crayons]

Hotdish:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotdish

Yup. And as the Wikipedia entry says, cream of mushroom soup is often a key ingredient. I believe the hotdish in the picture is the aforementioned tater-tot version.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Hotdish:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotdish

http://www.stlukeselca.com/youmightbealutheranif.htm

If you scroll down, you'll see that you might be Lutheran if you think hotdish is a major food group, and if you call hotdish a casserole, you're trying to be uppity and might even be Episcopalian.

[serious crayons]

http://www.stlukeselca.com/youmightbealutheranif.htm

If you scroll down, you'll see that you might be Lutheran if you think hotdish is a major food group, and if you call hotdish a casserole, you're trying to be uppity and might even be Episcopalian.

 

I've never been a Lutheran (my folks wasn't either), and for that matter I'm not a very good Minnesotan. I find lutefisk kind of sickening, for example. I do proudly call carbonated soft drinks "pop," though.

Maybe I've already mentioned this, Jeff, but did you know the largest early immigrant group in Minnesota was Germans? I only learned that recently, having always assumed it was Swedes or Norwegians.