The Thanksgivings after the seventh grade were spent in a brand new house that sat on the same land as the one that burned. They were not much different except the house was a small cottage. No dining room but everything was new, convenient and wonderful. Turkeys still came from the woods and food still came from the wonderfully canned goods High school years blended into college ones and the excitement of going home for the holidays. That didn't really last too long because just a couple of years would find us still on campus when everyone else was going home. We had a "Charge To Keep" and staffed for the holidays. On these occasions we had all the traditional fare in the Hospital cafeteria. Except for the nursing students the Duke campus was absolutely dead. The traditional fare turned into institutional turkey, dressing like I had never tasted, none of the delicious pickles, and the pies didn't hold a candle to Grandmothers. My boyfriend was home enjoying and here I was ..... working.
Marriage was soon to follow. On one particular Thanksgiving I had begun to work in the Emergency room. One of the residents had been sent a smoked turkey. The staff let it sit out for hours. I had a healthy helping and very soon after I went home. In just a few the agony of food poisoning set in. My hubby took me quickly to the Emergency Room. I was given a real dose of Compazine, I think. We had been scheduled to take off and visit his mother in Charleston, SC. Since there was nothing for me to do but sleep under the influence of all the drugs, Joe started to drive in that direction in our little MG sports car. I shall never forget dreaming that a huge semi had turned over and white turkeys were flying everywhere. It was months before I told anyone thinking I was hallucinating Yes, there really was a bunch of loose white turkeys just south of Durham.
Our first cooking of the Thanksgiving turkey was a real story of its own. I started my search for a live turkey and one of our neighbors found one for me and delivered it. The only place to keep it until my lucky husband came home. Little did I know that he was clueless as to how to fix the bird. The first exciting thing was that the turkey didn't mind him and fled the foot locker the first chance he had. Our beautiful new trailer was spread with you know what. Our married student friends settled into a laughing contest as they watched the decapitation, hanging, and scalding. I never lived down this episode, but the food was wonderful I discovered Mt. Olive pickles, tried successfully to make my own cranberry sauce but I did have to buy the rolls that were not nearly so good. I added over the year some recipes from my husbands' family. Sweet potato ...well cannot remember the name, but maybe you will. You grate a huge bunch of sweet potatoes, cook them with a ton of sugar and add some spices. A pudding like concoction that is wonderful. I soon tired of the grating and this recipe left my memory. I was introduced to Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix in the sixties and was addicted. No longer saving stale bread, trying to get it just right. But I did add my own water chestnuts, onions, celery (like the old fashioned stuffing I was used to), and some oysters when we were rich enough. All the other stuff was wonderful.... celery stuffed with cream cheese and olive, spiced little red apples, and a bit of eggnog.
The years went by and our small family had Thanksgiving pretty much the same way with the addition of friends and Joes' employees that were far from home. I can still see the buffet with sweet goodies, the table laden, and folks we had met along the way. Family was far away. I became famous during this time for Southern Pecan Pie. Yummmmm!
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