Thanksgiving Dinner To-Go

I’ve eaten a bunch of Thanksgiving dinners over the years. Most of the early years I sat at my mother’s dining table with the good china and silver and a whole bunch of family seated around the table. Besides my immediate family, which included my mother and father and my sister and I, we also had my brothers and their families. Sometimes we’d have all of them, sometimes they were at their in-laws’ table.

I’d say we had an average of ten people at those dinners. Our Great-Aunt May was always present, as well as my maternal grandfather, Herman Winchenbaugh. Grampie Wink always gave us a prayer which never seemed to end. He was a lay preacher at one time in his life and he knew how to belt out a good prayer when asked. I know my mother was worried the food would get cold while he went on and on.

It was also the only time of the year I heard my Aunt May referred to as “Captain Emery” by my grandfather, respecting her service as a nurse in the Army-Air Force during two world wars. She always called him, “Reverend,” also respecting his past vocation.

Some years, my folks and sister and I went to dinner over at my Aunt Freda’s and Uncle Carl’s farm in Bremen. We have two cousins, Diane and Mary Sue, who were near the same ages as I and Sally respectively. My Aunt Freda, like my own mother, was an excellent cook. She would keep the food coming at us till we couldn’t move any more. At one time she was a pastry cook at a restaurant in that area and I always looked forward to her confections as well as her yeast rolls hot from the oven.

As we all got older and more spread out, it was sometimes harder to get us all together. For a couple Thanksgiving dinners, my parents and I went on the road to Quincy, Mass to have dinner with my Aunt Virginia and Uncle Mac. We did this mainly because Sally was in nursing training at Deaconess in Boston and couldn’t take all that time off to get up to Maine. I would be home from school, so we’d take off early in the morning and return the same day. It was a lot of driving for my father. It was worth it to us, however, to at least have part of the family together for the holiday. Aunt Virginia, my mother’s sister, always gave us a dinner identical to the one my mother would make if we were home.

At one time, we also went for a couple years to the Boston area to have Thanksgiving dinner with a Hungarian couple who used to rent the bungalow next to the farm in Bremen, which Aunt Freda and Uncle Carl owned. Ann and her husband became very good friends of the Hiltons and therefore she invited us all to come and have dinner. As she was Hungarian-born, she had her own twist on cooking. I especially enjoyed the delicate pastries she’d make using special iron molds.  We were not always sure what Art, (not sure if that was his name) did for a living. We eventually surmised that he worked for the CIA. When he and Ann retired, they decided to move west. Unfortunately, they were in a car accident on the way and Ann was killed. We were all so sorry to hear that.

When Sally and I both lived in Connecticut, I had several holiday meals at her house. Her husband, Jerry, is a great cook and always contributed to the dinner fare. He came from Polish roots so his food reflected that. My folks came down from Maine and Jerry’s folks often came from Massachusetts too. I also seem to remember that Aunt Virginia and Uncle Mac came one year, but Sally will have to clarify that for me. We all enjoyed being together and I especially enjoyed spending time with my niece and nephew, Chris and Kim.  I don’t think we realized it at the time, but it is in this manner that the traditions of the holidays are passed on to the next generation.

When I got out on my own and moved farther away from home, I could no longer get up home for the holidays. I therefore made my own Thanksgiving Dinner and invited my friends to come enjoy it with me. We had many a good dinner together over the years. I have also participated in pot-luck Thanksgiving dinners, or “dinner-to-go.” Everyone would bring their favorite dish. I don’t know as we ever actually had turkey. One time I had such a dinner with a German friend of mine at her apartment complex’s common room. Many of her tenant friends came, including one oriental gentleman who brought tofu with him to share. I didn’t indulge on that dish.

As the next generations of the family carry on the traditions of the past, I hope they will pause for a minute or two to remember Thanksgiving dinners when they were young kids. I hope they also remember the people still dear to our hearts who made them possible. The folks are gone now as well as Aunt Freda and Uncle Carl, but Aunt Virginia will turn 100 on Dec. 7 of this year. To her I give special Thanksgiving wishes.

This year Nanci and I will have our dinner here at home. The menu will be a smaller one than ones we’ve both eaten at our mother’s homes. We’ll have turkey breast; mashed potatoes; a broccoli casserole I’m going to try from my November Menus blog; stuffing and gravy; cranberry sauce, crescent rolls; and deep dish apple pie. We’ll also have some chex mix, deviled eggs, etc. to nosh on during the weekend. Not at all bad I’d say. We both give thanks that we are able to afford and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner this year. Like many of you, we are feeling the economic pinch of the times.

We wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you get to spend it in the bosom of your family.

Thanks for listening.