BINGE ON THIS – The Turkey Trot and Other Tales
LOBSTER, SEAL AND SWANS…TURKEY?
O.K., here’s the real Thanksgiving story (according to some…) After a 66-day arduous journey that left them with malnutrition, exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease, the Pilgrims that somehow made it, were grateful just to be alive. Food? Not much available of anything, until the Wampanoag Indians taught them how to cultivate corn. Time to celebrate! The Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians sat down for three days…but not a turkey to be found. In fact, none of the stuff we stuff ourselves with today. It was a potluck of nothing to get excited about. Beaver, skunk, raccoon and tough, now extinct wild passenger pigeons. Oh, and 5 deer the Indians brought. Feast? Hardly. Well, on the good side, since they didn’t have a lot to gorge on, and no streaming anything to plop themselves down to watch, they probably didn’t get as much gastric distress as we suffer now. Or maybe if they did, burping and flatulence were commonly accepted.
Talking turkey, here are some facts we do know for sure. And they sure are amazing:
Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular women’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book, and the woman who wrote the classic song “Mary had a little Lamb”, was a real trendsetter for running a household, and a leading voice in establishing Thanksgiving as an annual event. Beginning in 1827, Hale petitioned 13 presidents, the last of whom was Abraham Lincoln. She pitched her idea to President Lincoln as a way to unite the country in the midst of the Civil War, and, in 1863, he made Thanksgiving a national holiday and without being conscious of it, emancipated the nation’s appetites.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is the top turkey-producing state in America, producing more than 46.5 million a year. Six states—Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and Indiana—account for nearly two-thirds of the 248 million or so, turkeys.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005, by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.
Oh wait, it gets better.
Thanksgiving is the reason for TV dinners! In 1953, Swanson had so much extra turkey (260 tons) that a salesman told them they should package it onto aluminum trays with other sides like sweet potatoes — and the first TV dinner was born!
Campbell’s soup created the green bean casserole for an annual cookbook 50 years ago. It now sells $20 million worth of cream of mushroom soup.
Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, not the eagle.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first meal in space after walking on the moon was foil packets with roasted turkey.
And yes, the short, jerky steps of the turkey, did inspire the turkey trot, at that time considered a ballroom dance.
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Before you pounce on the promise of fat and calories to come, you should make an appointment to see Dr. Stephen A. Goldstein at Denver Hormone Health. He knows everything there is to know about hormones and how certain ones can, with certainty, spoil the binge-o-rama you’ve been dreaming of for 365 days. To you, every tidbit (and who settles for tidbits?) is part of the eating extravaganza. But what you might not know, is that there is a serious link between hormones and holiday binging. What you think is so good, can really set off a not-so-good-for-you hormone imbalance, which in turn can turn wonderful into “whaaat?” “Why do I feel so awful?” Dr. Goldstein can explain it all and with simple tests, determine what’s going on with your hormones before a bite goes into your mouth. Call for an appointment now.
And wait until you see what he cooks up for you.
