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Issue date:
Nov. 13-15,
1998
Turkey
tidbits: Trivia, trends and tradition
In this article:
Turkey talk for impressing your guests
Food: Y2K
Thanksgiving: then and now
Introduction
Turkey 2000: Updating the classics
Recipes, recipes, recipes
TANTALIZE GUESTS WITH THIS TURKEY TALK: Conversation Starters Turkey in space. Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin ate roast
turkey after walking on the moon July 20, 1969. (Turkey) sex talk.
Only toms gobble; hens make a clicking noise. Hens usually are sold as whole
birds, while the larger toms are processed as cutlets, sausage, tenderloins, franks
and deli meats. The main dish. Thanksgiving is the one day of the year
when nearly all Americans eat the same thing, says the NPD Group, consumer marketing
researchers. And that's turkey for 91 percent of us, says the National Turkey
Federation. How much to serve? 1 pound per person should allow enough for
the holiday meal plus leftovers. Where to get help. Dial the toll-free Butterball Turkey Talk-Line at 1-877-323-4848 or go online at
www.butterball.com. You'll have plenty of company, says help line director Jean
Schnelle, an 18-year veteran. "Originally, there weren't many men [callers] - maybe
5 percent. Now, 20 percent are men. When the Internet site went up three years
ago, 90 percent of people who contacted the site were men. The turkey is big
enough to represent a manly activity." What else is for dinner?
Stuffing, sweet potatoes, peas, rolls with butter, cranberries,
a relish
dish, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, coffee and milk, says the American Farm Bureau.
Cost of that meal for 10 people will be about the same as or lower than last year's
$31.75.
Go to top MEALS AT THE MILLENNIUM  hanksgivings of the future may include
vitamin-fortified feasts with a relaxed attitude about fat. A look at what's ahead
and what's already happening: Nutrient-added "pharmafoodicals."
Cranberry sauce and other holiday foods may soon deliver a bigger nutritional punch.
"Instead of taking out bad ingredients, people are putting in good things like
ginseng, calcium and vitamins," says Kim L. Charlet of the trade magazine New
Product News. Already in stores: Minute Maid's juice fortified with calcium,
Tropicana FruitWise Smoothies with added vitamin C, and Hershey's calcium-enriched
American Beauty pasta. Restaurant-quality food at home. If you're one of
those who plan to leave the soup-to-nuts Thanksgiving dinner to Safeway or Kroger
in-store chefs, this trend will come as no surprise; stores and restaurants already
have crossed spatulas over who can best provide gourmet to-go fare. With ever-busier
families, "convenience is huge," says Tim Ryan of the Culinary Institute of America.
What's really new: companies that will install special freezers in your house and
deliver food while you're at work. No-fat food becomes some-fat food. Charlet cites such products as Kraft's Light Done Right dressings, which boast
full-fat flavor with one-third the calories, and SnackWell's revamped cookies and
cakes, which have more fat.Well-known foods in surprising places. You
can find Oreo cookie products, for example, in the cookie aisle - and cereal aisle
and ice cream aisle, as brands expand to reach more consumers.Ethnic complications. Just as Italian food splintered into Northern vs. Southern, then
along regional lines (Sicilian, Tuscan), more ethnic cuisines will follow suit, Ryan
says. Italian is the top ethnic choice when eating out, but Moroccan, Spanish, Greek
and other Mediterranean cuisines are coming on strong, says Karen Kraushaar of the
National Restaurant Association.A boom in chain (not fast-food) eateries. Why? Because Americans now eat out 4.1 times a week, 1.3 of those meals dinner,
says Kraushaar. And we want real dinner food, not Big Macs.
Go to top Thanksgiving Traditions, then and now| | 1955 | 1998 | | Wholesale price of turkey | 52 cents a pound
| 72 cents a pound | | Macy's parade | Host Buffalo Bob Smith of TV's Howdy Doody
introduces a "Birthday in Tootsieland" float, with a giant Tootsie Roll
atop a cake | Co-hosts Matt Lauer and Katie Couric of TV's
Today show introduce Dexter, Babe the pig and Rugrats balloons | | Post-feast tube activity | Tune in Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life on TV; | Search yahoo.com for what to do with that leftover turkey | | Football to watch | Doak Walker's Detroit Lions meet the pre-Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers
| Barry Sanders' Detroit Lions meet Kordell Stewart and the Pittsburgh Steelers | | ...and for a game... | A rousing game of Scrabble | A rousing game of Bop-It! |
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