HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL!

[Newt]

There just isn't a subsitute for Marmite!

Nor for Karo Syrup for cooking and making carp bait.

[corydoras]

According to QI the Turkeys enjoyed by the Pilgrim Fathers were Norfolk Whites brought with them from England, not the native american birds, talk about coals to Newcastle.

 

Have a great thanksgiving Newt, Jan, Severus and all my colonial friends.

 

 

Tony

That doesn't make any kind of sense, all Domestic turkeys are descended from the American Wild Turkey. The Founding Fathers could not have brought Norfolk Whites to the New World with them. Domesticated turkey didn't exist at that time. Edited November 29, 2008 by corydoras

[Tony U]

Cory

From the late 16th century, English turkeys walked the hundred miles from Norfolk to Leadenhall market in London each year. The journey would take three months and the birds wore special leather boots to protect their feet. Geese wouldn't allow themselves to be shod (hence the phrase 'to shoe a goose' for something difficult) so had their feet dipped in tar and covered with sand. Pigs wore knitted boots with leather soles, and blacksmiths nailed metal plates on to the hooves of cattle. A flock of 1,000 turkeys could be managed by 2 drovers carrying long wands of willow or hazel with red cloth tied on the ends. Turkeys move at about one mile an hour - quicker than geese - but they insisted on roosting at night, so the whole journey took longer. Traffic jams were caused by the vast flocks entering London from East Anglia, Norfolk, and Suffolk in the weeks before Christmas. In America, turkey drives rivalled some of the cattle drives: there are records of an 1863 drive from Iowa to Denver (600 miles) and flocks of 20,000 were common.

 

Ironically, despite being native to North America, the domesticated turkeys that graced the tables of the Pilgrim Father's first Thanksgiving dinner in 1620 had travelled out with them on the Mayflower from England.

 

Turkeys first reached Europe in the 1520s, brought back from their native Mexico to Spain and distributed throughout the Mediterranean by Turkish merchants. They were a hit, and quickly became a favourite food for the richer classes. As early as 1585, turkey had become a Christmas tradition in England. Then, as now, the flat, fertile plains of Norfolk, grew the best birds and breeders set to work to produce a heavier breasted, more docile version of the wild bird. The Norfolk Black and the White Holland were both English breeds re-introduced to America, and most domestic turkey now consumed in the USA derives from these two breeds..

 

Like I said coals to Newcastle

 

Tony

Edited November 29, 2008 by Tony U

[corydoras]

Yup looks like you were right and I was wrong Tony. I'm not sure about the Turkey reference. As far as I am aware whe did'nt ever buy Turkeys from Turkey. We did buy Guinea fowl from them and the original mexican turkey ( a different species than the north american turkey) had a passing resemblance to Guinea Fowl.

[Tony U]

Yup looks like you were right and I was wrong Tony. I'm not sure about the Turkey reference. As far as I am aware whe did'nt ever buy Turkeys from Turkey. We did buy Guinea fowl from them and the original mexican turkey ( a different species than the north american turkey) had a passing resemblance to Guinea Fowl.

 

Maybe they were Southern Spanish and we just assumed in the best British fashion that they were Turks?????

[Ken Davison South Wales]

I guess by now you have just recovered from your celebrations Hope you all had a good'n and despite our differences we still love you all

[Guest Jan V]

Well we are home after a 7 hour drive through lots of rain and idiot drivers. We lucked out and were able to fill up the truck with petrol priced at $1.49 a gallon (something I wish we could share with you folks). Was sure glad to back into the driveway.

 

We had a nice Thanksgiving meal that was slightly damped by son Angelo unable to eat much due to a massive jaw infection from having a root canal done. He was in hospital Intensive Care Sunday thru Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. He was discharged directly home (big mistake) and we arrived to a kid who could barely talk thanks to swelling in the jaw and neck. He was back in hospital on Friday and is still there. Doctors are trying to sort out the right combination of antibiotics to knock down the infection once and for all.

 

But it gave us the opportunity to totally spoil our granddaughter most of Saturday. Out to lunch, a trip to Walmart to buy Angelina a gift of choice, back to the hotel for an extended period of swimming and then playing with her new Play dough octopus figure creator. Fishies, star fish, turtles, crabs and so on. She totally wore grandma out while grandpa was cruising around forums.

 

One minor downside, in my mind, was I never did get a piece of that pumpkin pie.....