Big Bird Still Rules Turkey Day
Even while eating out, turkey is the top pick for Thanksgiving.
The turkey had fans in high places. When the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621, the menu included venison, fish, shellfish and several types of game birds. Any of those could have been the foundation for the modern Thanksgiving dinner, but several of the founding fathers, including Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, were such passionate fans of the fowl that a modern Thanksgiving dinner without turkey seems unthinkable. While Franklin fought to make the turkey the national bird, Hamilton went even further. “No Citizen of the United States,” he declared, “should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day.” To local restaurants, Thanksgiving still means turkey, agreed Courtney Gummersheimer, …
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Lou Malnassy
1:31 pm on Thursday, November 24, 2011
Our dinner will always be turkey, but we have as much fun eating all the side dishes and desserts before we ever sit down for the actual meal. more ›