Today, I’m going to hand the keyboard over to Mr. Punch so that he can share his thoughts on his third American Thanksgiving.
Coo! As I said last year, if I wasn’t made of wood, I’d say I gained quite a lot of weight over this holiday, I would. Well, actually, don’t think about the fact that I’m made out of wood as that would rather expose the weakness o'the whole premise o' me givin' an account o' my 'xperiences o'er the holiday. So, put that outta your head, and, let's carry on.
The day before Thanksgiving, the human one took me and the Bertie Dog to his parents’ house. Took quite a while to get there. The human what's called Joseph was cussin' in the car, he was. But, we did get there, we did, and all were relieved.
Once we did, there was a whole lot of choppin’ up o’ things like onions and celery and fresh cornbread. I remembered that this had somethin’ to do with the holiday, so it didn’t bother me none. ‘Sides, I like to see folk usin’ knives.
There'd been lots o' bakin’, too, there was. All manner of lovely biscuits--two different shapes (round and square), and what you call cookies 'round these parts, and pies and such. The house smelled right good, it did.
The next mornin’, we ate some of that lovely cornbread—seems Joseph’s mum made two of ‘em, one for the dressin’ and one what we could eat on its own. We had sausages! Hooray! I loves sausages! And scrambled hen eggs which is always a treat, it is.
I saw the table—lookin’ all sparkly with crystal glasses and pretty silver. Joseph’s mum and pa put ornaments for the Christmas tree out at each person's place setting. Each person got one—even Bertie Dog! The human folk each got one which fitted their personalities. Ha! I think that's nice. Bertie got one shaped like a squirrel made out of glass. Bertie likes to watch the squirrels. They're natural enemies, they are.
Then, out comes this large turkey bird. It were sittin’ in a pan and Joseph’s mum and dad put cheesecloth on it and a marinade o’ wine and such things. They even shoved some nice root vegetables into its belly. Into the oven went the bird. I laughed as it struck me funny. Dunno why. Seemed like a fairy tale where the witch goes into the oven.
But, it weren’t just the bird what we was eatin’. No—there was lovely mashed potatoes with buttermilk, garlic and rosemary, green beans with maple-candied pecans, them nicely baked biscuits, berry and orange compote. Me favorite part was that fine, fine dressin’—made with cornbread, white bread, all sorts of savory things and herbs and fine, fine sausage. Baked up, it was, in a big casserole and, coo!, it were lovely.
Them folk started that big, glorious meal with bowls of beautiful soup. Seems the soup were made of butternut squash and cream and pears! I think that’s just the nicest thing. Smelled as good as it looked—all topped with a mixture of sour cream and heavy cream and a sprinkle of them pecans candied with maple syrup. Even the Bertie Dog had some and he liked it an awful lot, he did. Didn't have any of the nuts those, Bertie didn't.
What else were there? You ask. Well, there were pies. Pumpkin pie with a tender crust and these wee leaves made of crust to adorn it. And, there was a chess pie (or Derby pie, as some call it) with pecans, lovely chocolate chips and bourbon. That was for me human as he don’t care for pumpkin pie. Weird little fella--likes squash, he does, but don't care for pumpkin. Peculiar bloke, but he's good to me.
Then, she had made fine sugar cookies, Joseph's mum did, that were shaped like turkeys and pumpkins and all! The mum decorated 'em with icing and they were so very pretty and so very delicious!
I think it were a grand day. I like it here in America. You lot know how to eat. And, I knew that, in addition to eatin’, I should be thankful. And, I am. Everyone from person to puppet to puppy had a fine time, they did.
