Thanksgiving Blessings & Family Memories

“You can talk turkey for chicken feed but a little bit of scratch is all you need!” As we approach Thanksgiving, I'm reminded of this old TV car dealership commercial jingle that we used to hear when I was a kid in New Orleans.

Long before turducken and fried turkeys have now become part and parcel with Thanksgiving, our family would have a simple old fashioned baked Butterball turkey with all the trimmings in my hometown of New Orleans.

Since my late dad and I were “leg men” and didn't care much for the white meat, it worked out great the David, my brother was a “breast man,” while Helen, my sister, and my late mom were eclectic and had welcoming palates for either type of turkey.

Mom would defrost the frozen bird that dad had gotten from Schwegmann's on Airline Highway and Labare. Dad would do his usual “makin groceries” at that big store on Saturdays with his mother, grandma “Tita,” as we called her, who lived in our basement in Uptown N'Awlins Carrollton area home.

In the past, as I was talking with a co-worker about my upbringing and living arrangements in the Big Easy, he asked me to specify what a “Where Y'at” native like me meant when I said “basement” – as he thought that I was referring to below the ground. I had to relay to him that just like for most New Orleans cemeteries, it's hard to go “six foot under” without hitting H20 in its below the sea level terrain.

Another treat that dad would always get for us on those Saturday shopping outings to Schwegmann's were the glazed donuts from McKenzie's Fine Pastries, also located in the store, which are now long closed like John Schwegmann's enterprises. My favorite extra treats that I would also enjoy at Thanksgiving were other goodies from McKenzie's, like their “Pride Coffee Cakes,” Apple Pies, Carrot Cakes, and their brownies.

McKenzie's pistolette bread rolls were also great to help mop up mom's wonderful turkey gravy – which must have been made with a roux! I'm sure most folks have heard of that great cookbook that captures so much of the N'Awlins lore and what comprises so much of its culture: "Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic and Can You Make a Roux?" While most folks enjoy cranberry slices and sauce with the turkey meal, it has never been tops on my list.

And how could I forget the delicious stuffing my mother would make – so yummy! Later, we developed the tradition for usually having a broccoli cheese casserole that my wife, Maria, would prepare for our annual Thanksgiving meals before mom and died had died after Katrina.

Certainly, we had yams also with our meals as a kid, but I preferred the casserole that my sister, Helen, developed later with that creamy flavoring from brown sugar, marshmallows, and other secret ingredients.

David, my late older brother, who in his 20s worked at Martin's Wine Cellar Deli and at Georgie Porgies, when it was near the Superdome, also contributed some nice sampler appetizers to our meals like cornbread dressing – another sumptuous addition! And what would Thanksgiving be without those mouth watering brown and serve rolls soaked with butter?

Mom would also tease our taste buds before the formal big bird meal, while we were just sitting around and catching up on family matters, with a scrumptious shrimp mold and those little smoky sausages with a dip!

After we moved to Baton Rouge in the early 90s, we became aware of a great Thanksgiving outreach that was available through the local CYO. We would show up for years on Thanksgiving Day after Mass at the Trinity Episcopal Church on Acadian Thruway, pick up some Thanksgiving meals for the disabled and homebound and deliver them, like “Meals On Wheels,” to needy folks. It has been so great for our kids to join us in these humble opportunities to reach out to those with great needs. Many other great organizations like St. Vincent de Paul, which serve the poor all year round, encourage individuals to volunteer for serving the disadvantaged to a Thanksgiving meal.

With all of these great family food memories, nothing can be treasured more than the relationships that were enhanced by those gatherings. And since my parents instilled in us a foundational sense of thanksgiving from a spiritual perspective, we certainly recall the simple words that we can all too often recite too quickly: “Bless us O Lord, and these Thy Gifts, which we have received and are about to receive from thy bounty, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen ....”

Horcasitas, a licensed clinic social worker, is founder/owner of Prayer Care LLC in Baton Rouge.