Coopernundrums

 No, it is not Southern slang for dodging things a chimp might throw at you.  Its a truly fascinating dish that seems to have it’s origins in the deep south of Louisiana.  The name Turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken.  It is a dish consisting of a partially de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The chicken and the rest of the gaps are stuffed, sometimes with a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird. 

     A November 2005 National Geographic article by Calvin Trillin traced the American origins of the dish to “Hebert’s Specialty Meats” in Maurice, Louisiana. They have been commercially producing turduckens since 1985, when an unknown local farmer brought in his own birds and asked Hebert’s to prepare them in the now-familiar style. The company prepares around 5,000 turduckens per week around Thanksgiving time.

     In all honesty the thing doesn’t look all that appetizing.  Still, I have always wanted to try one of these things but have never had the patience or skill to prepare one.  Its something that always grabs my attention when I see a newspaper article or a TV spot about it.  How bout you..are you ..GAME..?
   …sorry I had to, it was begging to be said.

   I don’t know about you, but at my house, I can almost NEVER resist the sad eyes and begging demeanor of my doggie when its meal time.  In keeping with the season, I wondered if any of my soon to be Thanksgiving meal was bad for my pup.  All the web articles I have read seem to say about the same things.

     Looks like the key to giving a bit of Thanksgiving dinner to the dog or cat is to give just a bit – moderation. Large amounts of unfamiliar foods will cause nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea in pets. Instead, offer a small amount of turkey and stuffing mixed in with the dog’s normal food.  You really don’t ever want to give your dog a bone from any kind of fowl.  This is because the bones in birds are hollow and when a dog chews them they tend to splinter.  Remember that chocolate in any amount is toxic to a dog.  You may be tempted to feed them just a bit especially around the holidays BUT BEWARE.  ANY amount is harmful to a dog.  they may not exhibit sickness signs after eating a small amount but their body still has to metabolize the toxin and hours or days later they will be sick. 

     I will follow these rules myself and Skipper, that’s ma dawg, will surely have a great meal on T-Day, just like the rest of us!  Cheers to all!

My Dog Skipper!

Ah its pumpkin pie time again! I love all pie but the pumpkin pie truley is the epitome of a delightful Thanksgiving meal  in my opinion. How much do you really know about ye ole pun’kin pies of old?

     Pumpkins are related to squashes, cucumbers, and cantaloupes. References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for “large melon” which is “pepon.” “Pepon” was nasalized by the French into “pompon.”  The English changed “pompon” to “Pumpion.”  Shakespeare referred to the “pumpion” in his tale The Merry Wives of Windsor.  American colonists changed “pumpion” into “pumpkin.”  The “pumpkin” is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.

   In the New World, the pumpkin’s ancestors can be traced back 9,000 years to Mexico. Native Americans used pumpkins for food long before any European settlers arrived by drying strips of pumpkin and cutting them into mats. They also cut strips of pumpkin and roasted them on an open fire to get them through the long winters. As centuries passed they learned many ways of enjoying the inner meat of the delicious and nutritious winter squash: baked, boiled, roasted, fried, parched, or dried. They also used pumpkin seeds for medicine. The Native American term for pumpkin is “isquotm squash.”

     The pumpkin pie originated when the colonists cut off the head of the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices, and honey. Then they baked the pumpkin in hot ashes. Also, early colonists used pumpkin meat as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

     Who knows who made the first pumpkin pie? But I ‘m sure glad they did!