Nina Benneton

Turkey, Crabs, Tofurkey...Oh My!

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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Written by Nina Benneton

When I was a child, Thanksgiving meant I'd be staring at some advertising page in my mother's Good Housekeeping magazine, salivating over the picture of Norman Rockwell's 'Freedom From Want.' An old grandma carrying a platter of perfectly golden roasted turkey to the table, with the grandpa hovering behind her, what could be more cosy and Americana?

"Mom," I'd say, "why can't we have an Americana Thanksgiving dinner like this?"

My mother's lips would curl as she looked over my shoulder. "Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and green bean casserole?  That sounds nasty and unhealthy."

"Not the casserole. I want a turkey like this, just once, please?" I'd whine.

"No." My mother, who grew up surrounded by sea water, and who'd never met anything swimming she couldn't or wouldn't eat, would say, "We're having crabs. Salt and Pepper crabs, with green onions and chilis."

Eating crabs was messy, smelly, and noisy.  I could not imagine any one of those people in Norman Rockwell's painting being so uncouth at Thanksgiving. I wanted everyone to behave with decorum at Thanksgiving, just like the people in Norman Rockwell's painting.

"You think those people behave better than us?" My mother rolled her eyes. "Look at the grandpa. He's standing there uselessly while his wife's carrying a heavy platter. At least your father cracks his own crab legs."

It wasn't until my second year of college that, in honor of my flying home for the holiday, we had a roasted turkey on the table at Thanksgiving. It was perfectly golden-roasted, just like in the painting.

There was no stuffing and gravy with it. There was no cranberry sauce with it. There was no green bean casserole with it.

It was just there, all alone, surrounded by platters of Salt and Pepper crabs, buckets of steamed clams, and one large Halibut my uncle had caught locally.

No one touched the turkey.  It was simply the center piece.

This year, last week, my vegetarian young daughter asked me, "Mom, why can't we have a Tofurkey Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Tofurkey? That sounds nasty and way too healthy," I said. "We're grilling a turkey for us. You don't have to eat it."

"Please, Mom, just this once," she whined, "I want a no-turkey Thanksgiving dinner."

"No," I said. "And stop whining, or I'll make you eat things that swim like I had to when I was your age."

What are you feeding your family?