November 25, 1998
Thanksgiving stuffing: It's not just for turkeys
By Garret Leiva
Herald staff writer
Indubitably, the fourth Thursday of November is a time of thanks - for the Pepto Bismol that is.
Thanksgiving is a celebration of not only family and friends but the four basic food groups; with a heaping helping from the food pyramid pinnacle. For many, Thanksgiving is about conspicuous consumption with perhaps a dash of gastronomy guilt.
Of course when talking about Thanksgiving, one word really says it all - turkey. As owner of Maxbauer Market in Traverse City, Mike Deering noted that a fair percent of fowl sales are done in advance.
"People that plan ahead start ordering their bird the third week of October," said Deering, who sells fresh turkeys ranging from 10 to 25 pounds.
Planning ahead also means plenty of cold turkey sandwiches for the next few days. While the industry average is a half a pound of turkey per person, Deering noted that most customers figure two pounds when ordering their bird.
"They want to have leftovers to give away as care packages for their college students and other family members," said Deering, a self-described "dark meat," "thigh vs. drumstick" turkey partaker.
Another who knows turkeys by the truckload is Rob Walker. As meat team leader at Meijer in Traverse City, Walker said the Thanksgiving rush started on Friday and wouldn't subside until sometime Tuesday. "We'll order truckloads of turkeys on a daily basis depending on sales," Walker said.
While store policy prevented him from disclosing specific poundage of poultry sales, Walker did note that the Traverse City Meijer is a leading store in the nation in meat tonnage sold. Pound for pound, Thanksgiving is no exception to that rule - although sales do tend to get a little more wild this time of year.
"Cornish hens, goose, ducks, all the traditional items you see on TV or in advertisements is what ends up on the Thanksgiving table," Walker said. "People tend to get a little unhealthy."
Adding to the calorie count is another table top tradition - the trimmings.
Pumpkins, cranberry sauce, baking spices, yams and of course those little miniature marshmallows all start flying off the shelf before Thanksgiving noted Steve Nenetz of Meijer. With customers' carts overflowing, the grocery team leader orders such items by the "skid load" with two to three semi-loads coming in on a daily basis.
But while the turkey may not be the only thing stuffed at Thanksgiving, there is always room for dessert judging by the order list at the Grand Traverse Pie Company.
Taking orders two months ago, owner Mike Busley said in the days leading up to Thanksgiving his company will bake between 4,500 and 5,000 pies. Suffice it to say that doubling the recipe simply won't do in this kitchen.
"We'll go through a couple thousand pounds of fruit and use shortening and flour by the hundreds of pounds," said Busley, who despite being around dessert all day, still finds himself sinking a fork into a piece of pumpkin or pecan pie on Thanksgiving day.
While each year people pledge not to eat themselves into a complex carbohydrate coma, it seems we still hunger for those traditions only found in lumpy brown gravy.
"Growing up in the 50s and 60s, most people had mashed potatoes and gravy once a week. Today, I'm lucky to have mashed potatoes twice a year," said Deering of Maxbauer.
"Thanksgiving is a traditional meal that brings back warm fuzzies for me of walking into my grandmother's house and seeing the roast turkey on the table and smelling the brown gravy cooking on the stove."
While most Thanksgiving dinners hearken back to yesterday's cholesterol-caked comfort foods, today's table setting is a lightweight contender compared to the Pilgrim's heavyweight harvest feast.
"Thanksgiving comes from an old English tradition of celebrating the harvest with 'joy and good spirits,'" remarked Northwestern Michigan College history professor, Jim Press. Joy in this case being platter after platter of pig, goose, boiled turkey, fried rabbit, fricassee of cod, seethed lobster, roasted venison - even opossum.
Of course those that don't learn from this high calorie history lesson are doomed to repeat workouts at the local gym. At least that way we can fit into our sweatpants for the second holiday course - Christmas dinner.
"We do see a slight increase of people coming in after Thanksgiving," said Amy Lang, a personal trainer at the Fitness Center in Traverse City.
"However, many people wait until after the Christmas holiday or the first of the year. They figure, 'might as well keep on a roll.'"