I always love to read those "man-on-the-street" columns in my local newspaper. It seems that frivolous questions rather than weighty ones inspire far livelier and intriguing responses. In the same spirit, I collar friends, relatives, and total strangers to ask them inconsequential questions on culinary matters.



Thanksgiving 


Go To Word of Mouth Archive

Q:What's on your family's Thanksgiving menu?

Catherine:We always the same menu, and we always have Thanksgiving at my parents' house. It's pretty traditional. For dessert, my mom always makes pecan pie and pumpkin pie from the recipe on the label of Libby's canned pumpkin. I have a great recipe for pumpkin cheesecake but I wouldn't think of having it for Thanksgiving. Norman (her husband) won't eat the creamed onions. I didn't like them when I was a kid. But I've been eating them for so many Thanksgivings that I've come to really like them.

Bob: There's not much variation: turkey and stuffing (obviously), canned cranberry sauce and whole cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and pumpkin pie made from the recipe on the can. I make the pie...that's one of my main functions. We used to have green beans with bacon every year. I don't eat meat so we make the beans without the bacon now. When I was a kid we also used to have this green walnut-laden jell-o thing every Thanksgiving. When Helen (his wife) and I took over the family Thanksgiving about thirteen years ago, we decided to forgo that dish; that one just didn't stand the test of time.

Q: What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

Bob: The sweet potatoes with marshmallows.

Catherine: I don't really have a favorite. I love it all.