A Turkey, My Mom, Matches & Tweezers, Oh My - Page 2

kitty60 · ‎03-13-2010

Wow, I feel blessed to have grown up in the 50's and be able to relate to these stories. Cleaning those pin feathers, washing the bird and NOT being wasteful. Funny the story about stripping the color off the bulbs. Today all we do is throw out what we don't wnat and replace it with whatever is new. Up until two years ago I decorated my tree with all the ornaments I accumulated over the years. Half of the fun was unwrapping each ornament and unwrapping not only it but the memory. I may go back to those ornaments!

Elbelle · ‎03-09-2010

My Mom used a pliers and the blow torch from my Dad's workbench! I must admit it was effective!

I loved the story about the dad who wiped the colors off the bulbs. My dad would have done that too!

CrazyKittyLvr2 · ‎05-11-2013

@Elbelle Blowtorch, omg. My Dad would have taken the paint off of bulbs too had he thought of it.

One year Mom had a lit match looking for non-existent hairs. I was probably 16 and watched her take her match back and forth over that poor bird.

Finally, I said, "that turkey will never get cooked in time for dinner tomorrow doing it that way, wouldn't the oven be quicker"?

Mom didn't appreciate my observation, however, I could hear Dad chuckling at the kitchen table.

noodleann · ‎06-10-2015

My mother considered it a triumph if she remembered to pull the bag of giblets out of the turkey before she stuffed it. More than once someone going back for seconds found themselves staring at a ruddy paper bag of entrails instead of stuffing. She'd just say, "Oh, I forgot to take that out. Put it aside for the cats."

And I never knew until I grew up that the pin feathers should be removed before cooking, because she didn't take them off. I love wings and often had to pull one or two off before eating. Forget about hairs.

depglass · ‎03-10-2010

My mother did this to chicken all the time. The processors must not have cleaned them very well back then. The memory of this probably contributes to the fact I will not cook chicken from raw, I buy rotisserie chicken. I will gather my courage once a year to do a turkey. I should say used to, we switched to Thanksgiving out several years ago. Now I will do a turkey breast tomorrow for the first time in my life for the two of us. I can still conjure up the smell of burning feathers.

Still Raining · ‎03-30-2014

Thanks for the laugh. Forgot about my mom, we were a tweezer family.

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

@Desertdi wrote:
@CrazyKittyLvr2 I can sympathize. My ma cooked everything until she was sure it was REALLY DEAD...............

@Desertdi we must've had the same mother. Her hamburgers started out normal but looked like sausage patties by the time she was done cooking them. And, I never even knew pork could be good until I had it away from home.

Desertdi · ‎03-13-2010

@Icegoddess wrote:
@Desertdi wrote:
@CrazyKittyLvr2 I can sympathize. My ma cooked everything until she was sure it was REALLY DEAD...............
@Desertdi we must've had the same mother. Her hamburgers started out normal but looked like sausage patties by the time she was done cooking them. And, I never even knew pork could be good until I had it away from home.

@Icegoddess You musta had those pork chops that looked like burnt suction cups???? Oh yeah....and the fish that was baked BEFORE putting it in the broiler......... Yup, we are at least cousins!!! di

♥Surface of the Sun♥

CrazyKittyLvr2 · ‎05-11-2013

@Desertdi @Icegoddess Add my late MIL to the family.

God love her, the woman didn't realize her stove had a medium and low setting. EVERYTHING was cooked on high and she pressed burgers, steaks and chops with a spatula like there was no tomorrow. You could hear the meat clatter on the plate.

I swear my husband married me because my Mom was a great cook (turkey cleaning notwithstanding). We had my FIL to dinner when my Mom and Dad visited (MIL was gone for the day). My Mom and I made pork chops. It was the first time he had a pork chop that wasn't a cinder. He talked about that meal for months.