Wild turkey on the move in our yard.
Gobble, gobble. This wild turkey walked through our yard on Memorial Day this year. Apparently he had his holidays a little mixed up. I wonder if he survived to Thanksgiving Day. His photo is a little blurry because he was moving fairly quickly as he passed through.
We had a domestic turkey yesterday for our Miller Thanksgiving Day dinner. However, it gave birth to a little pheasant breast. I guess you could call it a “TurSant”, the Miller version of a “TurDuckEn”. Turducken: a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey. Really! I’m not kidding. My boss actually had a Turducken for Thanksgiving a couple years ago.
My dad acquired the pheasant from Mark Kimmel. Mark shot several pheasants and gave one to my dad. My mom wasn’t sure how to cook this little game bird. She heard that pheasant meat is a little dry so I believe Aunt Kate suggested that she cook it inside the turkey. It turned out very well. It was not dry and it tasted just like turkey. Duh! It was cooked inside a turkey!
Turkey cooked with pheasant breast inside.
Thanks to my mom for the great Thanksgiving Day dinner with all the trimmings. She also makes the best pumpkin pie. The whole meal was simply scrumtrulescent. Thank you Jeff for that word.
I don’t remember much about our family Thanksgiving dinners when I was very young. Evidently the Millers used to get together on Thanksgiving. I found the following old newspaper clipping among some other clippings from Grandma Miller (Gertrude). The clipping was not dated but I estimate the year was either 1958 or 1959:
MILLER FAMILY GATHERING
Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Miller and daughter Ann of near Willshire, Ohio, were hosts to a family dinner on Thanksgiving Day.
Following the dinner the afternoon was spent in visiting.
The family circle was complete with the following present: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Werner, Roger, Gary, Linda and Phillip of Harmony, Pa.; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Linn, Judy, David, Jeanne and Debbie of Lima, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Miller and Karen; Mr. and Mrs. Norval Weitz, Ronnie, Gloria and Jack; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Eichlar [sic] and Eddie of Rockford, Ohio; Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Miller of Hammond; Mr. and Mrs. LaVerne Miller, Jacalyn, Bradley and Douglas and the host family, Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Miller and Ann.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Werner and family remained for the week end.
Undated clipping from unknown newspaper. (Thanksgiving c1958-59)
The article was probably from the Willshire Herald, now known as the Photo Star. Those little family news items newspapers used to print are great.
What I do remember about family get-togethers at Grandma and Grandpa Millers: There were a lot of us. There were card tables set up in every available room. The kids usually ate on the card tables in Grandma’s bedroom. There was a lot of good food.
I remember my mom hosting our Schumm side of the family for Thanksgiving several times. The holiday meals on that side of the family were not pot-luck. The hostess fixed the entire meal. That certainly sounds like a lot of work.
The Bennetts always have their Thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. They combine the holiday dinner with an Ohio State football game, which always had been the big OSU/Michigan game. That rivalry game is now played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Go Bucks!
Each person in the Bennett family has their own special dishes that they take. I always take an Old Fashioned Cream Pie. My sister-in-law originally made this pie for the holidays but they now live out of state and are not able to attend. This pie turns out well for me so I have been entrusted with the task of bringing this Bennett family favorite. Also my favorite pie, by the way.
According to a recent article by Mikaela Conley of ABC News.com, feeling thankful is good for your health. Thankfulness is linked to positive changes in the brain and body. When you feel thankful the brain releases dopamine, which has a positive effect on mood and emotional well-being.
We have a lot to be thankful for and we should always remember that. So keep thinking those thankful thoughts.
I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving Day with family and friends. Now I think I’ll have another piece of pumpkin pie.
3 comments
Must have been 1959 since we were not married until then. Benjy was born in 1960 and would have been included if it was 1960 or later.
I remember eating a lot of chicken for Sunday dinners.
My job was to catch and kill a rooster. After losing their heads they did jump & run around like the old saying.
Kenny
Thanks for the memories, I remember when I was home I would fix and stuff the turkey the night before so it would be ready for the oven the next day, now that is a NO NO but I don’t remember anyone ever getting sick from it. I sometimes wonder how we survived all those years living on a farm especially with no electricy and no modern convenices, guess we got imuned early from all the germs. The article in paper was from the Berne Witness there was a lady prehaps a relative that would write articles for the paper, they were mostly about friends and neighbors, what they did and and family gatherings, who the visited who and where they went. Good to remember “The Good Days” Kate
Author
You remember the newspaper! Thanks! I didn’t even think of the Berne Witness. I remember that we used to stuff the turkey the night before, too. It is amazing that we have lived this long, considering all the things we did that they now tell us not to do.