Friday, November 19, 2010

Flashback Friday # 20 ~ Jim's early Thanksgiving

Linda asked several questions about early Thanksgivings with family members and school activities. Click her icon, right, if you want to read others or participate in this with a blog post of your own.

Linda's questions and then my answers: (you will note that some of these I did not answer as they did not apply to my family situation--they may apply to you)

What was Thanksgiving like when you were growing up? What days did you usually have off from school? Do you remember any Thanksgiving activities at school, such as a play or a meal? During the Thanksgiving weekend, did you travel to spend it with relatives or did you stay home? Or did relatives travel to you? What was your family's day typically like? Did you watch the Macy's Parade or something else on TV? Have you ever attended a Thanksgiving parade? Was football a big part of the day? And of course, we have to hear what your family ate! Were there any traditional foods that were part of your family's meal? Which of your growing-up traditions do you do with your family today? And if you are married, how did it go merging your two traditions/expectations?


My early Thanksgivings that I can remember involved an activity in school with Pilgrim and Indian stuff. Then for the Thanksgiving Day my family and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins on Dad's side of the family would go to his parents for a noonish plus dinner

At Grandpa's we ate very lavishly and then went outside for pictures. Later in my teen years my grandparents got TV and we watched that some of the time. When I was small we cousins would play. Teen time? I am not sure what we did then.

Two things I remember about our noon dinner. First was my grandmother's delicious scalloped oyster dish. She cooked them in a big round glass baking pot, probably Pyrex. Second was the duck. I don't like duck but we had it every Thanksgiving and Christmas. My Aunt Mabel made that. We didn't have turkey.

One other thing was my Grandpa's command when it was time to eat, "You kids get in the wood box now!" The wood box was full of chopped wood and corn cobs to be burned as fuel in the iron cook stove. We all knew he was teasing.

One of my first memories was when I was just walking (nine months) I used that wood stove to hang onto as I walked back and forth around it

One of the awfullest thing I didn't even back know then was our turkey dressing. Not until I moved to Texas did I ever have corn bread turkey dressing. That is so good! Up north and in the Midwest regular bread was used, making the dressing very mushy.

I used to tease my mother-in-law about putting egg into her corn bread dressing. She thought that was terrible but a hard cook egg or a few help things a lot. Mrs. Jim puts egg into her corn bread.

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Comments:
I love that you mentioned that saying of your grandpas...for some reason it made me think of my dad.

Cornbread dressing is my favorite part of the meal. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it! But those scalloped oysters sound like something I'd love too!

Do you cook a turkey now? I need turkey on Thanksgiving...I'm not as particular at Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!
 
Sounds like good Thanksgivings. My cousins and dad and uncle and I used to play football until everyone could come home bloody and eat like fiends. Happy thanksgiving to the Jim bunch.
 
What a fun post this was to read! Loved the woodbox comment; my dad used to tell us he would throw us in the country club ditch. (Country club makes it sound fancy but it was just a small golf course with a huge ditch - almost a bayou that ran along the side.)

I put eggs in my cornbread but not in the dressing.
 
Scalloped oyster and duck for Thanksgiving? Interesting! I don't think I've ever had a Thanksgiving without turkey. And you're right, cornbread stuffing rules!
 
Jim
Good post. Why did you have duck instead of turkey?
Ralph
 
We don't have cornbread dressing here. Just the regular bread dressing and my dressing is not mushy. None of our family like cornbread. Go figure.

Have a terrific day. Big hug. :)
 
Fun to read your Thanksgiving memories, Jim. I think Thanksgiving is the best family holiday.
I vote for cornbread stuffing every time.
 
I do not like cornbread dressing! Plain bread dressing can be made so it is not "mushy". I know because there is nothing I despise more than slimy bread. (shudder)

My sister's boyfriend cooked a duck once for Thanksgiving. We all hated it and ended up leaving the food on the table and going to a restaurant.

And -- aren't you old enough that you were there with the original pilgrims and Squanto? ;)
 
Hi Jim ~~ Interesting memories of
past Thanksgivings. We don't have it in Australia, but I try to always be thankful for the many blessing we have. Thanks for your comments and I am glad you like my flowers.
Yes, John likes his motorcycle and the long rides he has on it. I try
not to worry and the Spotwalla helps as I can follow his trips on the computer. There are so many accidents and they usually don't survive. Think hard before you buy one. Take care, Regards, Merle.
 
Can't beat Mrs. Jim's cornbread, a son-in-law of yours tells me.
 

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