I was talking with Bev on Sunday night (27 January 2008) about how Thanksgiving was celebrated at our house.
I remember that Mom would always invite both Grandma and Grandpa Rees AND Grandma and Grandpa Wheeler to our house for Thanksgiving dinner. I have always wondered why this was the case when Carl's family was so much closer, and Solly was in the valley as well. It may have been that because Carl was closer he saw his parents more often than Dad did. (We got to go out to Draper to see Grandma and Grandpa Rees once or twice a month, but I suppose the Ronnie, Mary Jo, and Carlene got to see them quite often.)
Mom was up early to get the turkey ready for the oven if we were having turkey. Sometimes (most times?) we would have a big fresh ham. Writing about it makes me remember how good it tasted. Potatoes and gravy were always on the menu. I remember vegetables from the canning Connie described. One year we had parsnips. They weren't a big hit. Grandma Wheeler would bring fresh baked rolls. And Grandma Rees would usually bring a carrot pudding with a hard sauce. I never tasted it, and to this day I wonder what it tasted like. It was for adults only; that was probably because they knew the kids wouldn't like it.
We would have the table stretched out with table clothes. Most of the time during the week we didn't use a table cloth. There was always so much food that it could never have been eaten in three Thanksgiving days!
After dinner, we would have dessert. There was always pie. Dad loved lemon meringue, and there was always one of those. My favourite was banana cream. I know that apple pie was always available as wel as pumpkin. Grandma Wheeler made most of the pies. I remember carrying them down from her house to our house.
After dinner, Dad and the boys would clean up the kitchen. I have always thought that was one of the key points that made Thanksgiving special. We loved working with Dad. The hot soapy water was changed a number of times. It was hard work, but it felt so good at the end to see the clean dishes, and know that we had been responsible for making that happen.
After dinner and dishes were done, it was time for visiting. I remember when I was in grade 5 or 6 that Dad invited me to talk to Grandpa Rees who had been a school teacher. We talked about how he drilled his students to find subjects and verbs in sentences. We also talked about when Grandpa was in a band (he played the piano, I think) and the kinds of music they played. It felt grown-up to be talking with Grandpa Rees one on one. Sometimes, we'd play checkers. I think that might have been Grandpa Rees' favourite board game.
Thanksgiving was one of my favourite times of the year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Interesting... I never remember ham at thanksgiving... that was always Christmas. I never remember Grandma Wheeler making Pies... always Mom. and I remember Grandma Rees bring chocolate Cake. Also, I was sure that Dad liked Lemon pie... but never with Meringue LOL However, I do remember checkers. I only remember Thanksgiving in the basement.... What was it like before the basement was built? Did everyone eat in the kitchen? Did mom cook everything in the Coal Stove?
We ate in the kitchen as we always did. I don't remember the chocolate cake. What's wrong with my memory?
Mom cooked on an electric stove. I don't think we ever used the coal stove to cook Thanksgiving dinner.
The years I remember ham for Thanksgiving were when I was 8 through 13. After that, we had turkey. I don't remember what we had before I was 9.
I am lucky. I remember both. Ham and Turkey...Not at the same time. I remember eathing in the kitchen, sitting on the bench with our backs toward the sink. Chocolate Cake from Grandma Rees. Rolls from Grandma Wheeler and pies...but later on when we got older. Mom made more of the pies. The one problem was that she never made enough pumpkin. I only like pumpkin. Everybody loves pumpkin... So they got lots of pie... I would get one or two slices... I actually started to complain... It still bugs me to this day...I remember carrot cake from Grandma Rees.... maybe it was pudding... don't know.
I truely like the tradition of the guys doing the dishes on Thanksgiving. We have passed this on too.(I think) At least at my house they do. (when I had a house) I think the cake was German Chocolate.
Mom's (Christy) right the tradition of cleaning up the kitchen after thanksgiving has been carried on. I remember times when Uncle Craig and his boys were there too.
I also echo Uncle Ken, I too felt great after accomplishing so much together on this special holiday.
I remember the extremely HOT water also, I remember my hand throbbing.
I plan to carry on this tradition to my family when they get a little older and can was dishes.
for a long time it seemed like we spent almost every thanksgiving with uncle joe and aunt chris' family. i remember one year there was more people than there was room at the table for, so uncle joe grabbed all the boys and we went into the front yard to build a makeshift table, that was later covered with a table cloth and put in the front room next to the other table so that we could all eat in the same place. i also remember that every year after we had finished eating all the guys would gather in the kitchen to do all the dishes. someone would always turn the radio on and all of us would be washing, and singing along to either the beach boys, jan and dean, and johnny horton. good times!
Post a Comment