First, here is a photograph that labels what each food is. The cranberry sauce is not pictured. Underneath the photo, I will explain each food. You can click on the picture to see it much bigger and be able to to read all the labels.
Turkey: Let's start with the turkey.A turkey is a type of large bird. You can see what live turkeys look like at this link: http://www.self-catering-breaks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/turkey.jpg Some places in the United States raise turkeys in ways that don't seem very nice and sometimes they feed them stuff I don't think is good for them, so I bought my turkey from a place called Organic Prairie. Organic means that the turkey was not given hormones to help make it grow and not given antibiotics. The turkey was fed good food, stuff turkeys like and that wasn't grown with pesticides and such.
I roasted my turkey in an oven. Before I did that, I soaked it in water for almost 24 hours. I put salt, ginger, garlic, and a couple other spices in the water. Before I put it in the oven, I made a glaze. I did this by boiling together maple syrup, ginger, molasses, a bit of water, orange juice, and a few other tasty things, then spread it all over the turkey. The turkey was around 13 pounds, so it took about four hours to bake at 300 degrees. However, I turned the over to 350 degrees for the last 45 minutes.
Stuffing: Some people fill the inside of a turkey with stuffing. That way they both cook at the same time. I don't like to do that, so I make the stuffing separate. There are many different types of stuffing. Some use corn, some use rice, some use bread, some add oysters...the list goes on and on. Last year, I made a stuffing with wild rice, almonds, and fruits. This year, the one you see in the picture is made with bread. I made it by drying out pieces of bread and cutting them into small squares. After that, I sauteed the bread with melted butter. Butter is made from the cream found in cow's milk. Some people in the United States use margarine, which contains more oil and water, so it has less fat than butter. However, I try to use butter since it is more pure and I think it tasted better, especially on a holiday! Now back to the stuffing. As I sauteed the bread, I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and a spice called sage. Then I took another pan and sauteed mushrooms, celery, and leeks. Leeks are like onions, but they have a more mild flavor. They look like this:CLICK HERE I mixed the bread, mushrooms, celery and leeks together in a baking dish, then poured some broth over it and stirred it just a bit, then baked it in the oven.
Sweet Potatoes: These are very easy to make! Sweet potatoes are just what they sound like: potatoes that are sweet. Some are more white inside, but I like the ones that are orange inside because they are a little more sweet and they are very creamy and smooth. All you have to do is bake them. A lot of people call orange sweet potatoes "yams," but that is the wrong word. A yam is very different and many people in the United States have never seen one since they are usually only sold in specialty markets. However, lots of stores make the mistake of labeling orange sweet potatoes as yams, so a lot of people make that mistake. So when you hear that lots of Americans eat yams on Thanksgiving or Christmas, the truth is that most of them are eating sweet potatoes. I simply bake my sweet potatoes and people can add what they want to give them some flavoring, but a lot of Americans either cut them up into squares or mash them after cooking them, then they add brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows and bake them a little longer. I've done that before, but that makes them very sweet and hides that good potato flavor so I don't do it much anymore.
Mashed potatoes: I made these too since not everyone in the family likes sweet potatoes. I used regular white potatoes, which are small and not sweet at all. They're also easy to make. You cut them up, boil them in water, then drain the water out. Then you use a potato masher to crush them up until they get smooth. I like to keep some chunks still in there so they have a nice texture. I add butter and cream to them and a bit of salt and some fresh ground black pepper. I only use cream in mashed potatoes during the holidays. At other times of the year, I add water or milk to make them less dry.
Green Bean Casserole: I don't know who first started making this, but it's very popular during the holidays. I don't think it's that wonderful, but most other people do and I want them to be happy, so I make it anyhow. You just take green beans and ruin them. HA HA HA! Okay, so here's how you REALLY do it: You buy condensed mushroom soup in a can. You then mix a can of that soup with some milk and add black pepper and mix it up. Then you add canned green beans and mix it up. Then you add dry, fried onions that are also sold in cans. Then you bake it. See? That's why I don't like it. Everything comes out of a can and you don't really do any work, and I feel like part of the holidays is working hard at making the food that will feed your family. It is a special time of year, so if a person is healthy and able to work, it's a great time to show people how much you care by putting extra time and effort into feeding them. A lot of Americans get pretty lazy in how they cook now because you can buy almost everything already prepared or partially prepared. That is nice for times when a person is busy, but unfortunately, it's becoming very normal for people to do this all the time and it means that it's getting harder and harder to find people who really know how to cook real food by themselves.
Bread rolls: I'm pretty sure everyone knows what bread is! These are simply little loaves of bread. They have rosemary in them. Rosemary is an herb. I grow it in my herb garden. It looks like this: PICTURE OF ROSEMARY
Apple Pie: This is a popular dessert in America. I like making it and my husband loves eating it. I make pastry crust and put it in the bottom of a pie pan, then slice up the apples. I add cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and a little bit of vanilla to the apples, then put them in the pie pan. Then I cover it with another pastry crust and put holes in the top so the heat can escape as it bakes. A lot of people like to eat apple pie while it is still warm. Some people like to put ice cream on top. I don't see it a lot, but sometimes people will put a slice of yellow cheese on top and eat it that way. I think putting cheese on a piece of apple pie would taste yucky!
Pumpkin Pie: Most Americans can't imagine a Thanksgiving dinner without a pumpkin pie! Pumpkins are ready for harvest shortly before Thanksgiving, so it's the perfect time to use them. Pumpkin soup, baked pumpkin, mashed pumpkin...there's a lot of ways to make it, but everyone knows that if it is Thanksgiving, you use it to make a pie! The pumpkin is baked or boiled and then made smooth. It is mixed with the spices a person likes. Usually that includes spices like cloves, nutmeg, and powdered ginger. There is no top crust on a pumpkin pie, just a bottom one. Before it is baked, the pumpkin mixture is pretty liquid. After it cooks, it firms up and gets more firm as it cools. Pumpkin pie is best when it is served cold. Some people put a topping on it that is made out of cream. Most people buy the topping in the store, but I like to make mine. It is very easy to make. I simply buy heavy cream, add a bit of sugar and vanilla, then whip it, then whip it some more, and keep whipping it with an electric beater until it gets thick enough to serve with a spoon.
Pickles: Pickles are small cucumbers that put into pickling juices to preserve them. They are crunchy and sour. My oldest daughter and I like to use the rolls, turkey, and pickles to make turkey and pickle sandwiches.
Olives: We like both black and green olives, but this year we just had black olives. I think everyone knows what olives are, but if you don't, here is a website that talks about them: ALL ABOUT OLIVES
I think everyone knows what the rest of the stuff is, but feel free to ask me about anything you don't know about or about anything I've already written.
I hope you enjoyed this little insight into American culture. I'd love to hear from you if you live in another country and want to share what a meal is like for you on one of your country's major holidays!
© 2011 by Gina Locke
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