Least Favorite Thanksgiving Foods

Most of us tend to think of Thanksgiving the way Norman Rockwell portrayed it..Even though very few of us have actually experienced it quite like that. Grandma's house these days may be more like a time-share condo in Reno than "over the river and thru the woods".

I have to admit that my own childhood memories of Thanksgiving are wonderful. I did love getting together with my Mom's family especially. We would drive from Beaumont, Texas to Texarkana and spend a wonderful weekend with aunts uncles and cousins. One year we even had a very brief snow flurry.

But I digress...

On Wednesday's show Heather and I asked you to share your "Least Favorite Thanksgiving Foods"...and you did..the calls came in all morning and we thank you for that!!

Here are YOUR "Top 5 Least Favorite Thanksgiving Foods"...

If you click on any of the BLUE type, it will take you to more information...or it could just be something silly. I forget.

5
TURKEY
Not to be confused with the country...Here's more on that!
The star of Thanksgiving dinner was the 5th least popular food. Some said because it was "too dry"..Okay, let's be fair to one of the ugliest birds on earth. If it's dry...it's the cook not the bird..and that's all I'll say about that least you think I've besmirched your Grandmother.
4
VEGETABLES
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys loves his Veggies!
Very few callers named a specific veggie...it's sort of a general dislike. I have a theory about that..Again, it goes back to prep. So many of us cook veggies down until they are a mass of goo. I have to admit that I grew up with a family that loved veggies. My mom liked to cook them to the point that a botanist couldn't identify them. In a few cases it wasn't that the callers didn't like veggies it was that they didn't like the kind of veggies served at Thanksgiving..all the squash family was pretty much maligned. I think Gerber has a lot to do with our attitude about veggies.. I mean, come on..take a look at Gerber Strained Peas and tell me that looks edible..
3
YAMS
Are They Yams or Sweet Potatoes ?
Like many of the foods on your list, Yams seem to be a love/hate kind of thing. Some callers said they don't mind the Yams/Sweet Potatoes..it's those marshmallows on top!!
When I was a kid, I wanted mostly marshmallows..Now I dig under the marshmallows and go straight for the yams..or is it sweet potatoes...Now that I think of it...the whole Yam/Sweet Potato thing is only part of the misnomer surrounding this dish. The sweet sticky stuff on top isn't even really marshmallow anymore!!!
2
DRESSING
On With the Countdown..But First a Few Rules of Etiquette.
Dressing...any kind came in second in our poll. One listener described "dressing" as "wet bread with turkey innards" ..Good thing that's not the name of the dish!
I assume it's a regional thing, but oyster dressing really took a beating in our poll. There were plenty of folks who didn't mind the cornbread dressing with giblet gravy..but the thought of oysters in the dressing really triggered the gag reflex !
1
CRANBERRIES
MORE CRANBERRIES
At first I thought that cranberries were the #1 least favorite Thanksgiving food because most of us grew up with that gelatinous substance shaped like a can...Turns out that's the kind most people prefer. I was well into my teens before I ever had REAL cranberry sauce and I much prefer that..
Maybe it's the taste. Cranberries can be bitter. The strong negative reaction to cranberries could be the way they look when they are harvested! It could also be those guys standing in the cranberries!

Here's wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving with loved ones. May all the foods you love and none of the one's you hate be on your table. While you are at that table, give a thought and a prayer for our men and women in the armed forces who can't be with us for this wonderful day. We pray that next year they will be back at their honored places.

If you have a loved one serving in the armed forces..Here or abroad, please tell them that they are in our thoughts and our prayers and that they are indeed HEROES!

Leave an empty chair at the table for your loved one in the armed forces. Don't think of it as a sad thing. Think of that empty chair as a place of honor..a place being held for that person when they return!

God Bless!

God Bless them for their sacrifices.