THANKSGIVING CRAPPIE
by Larry Whiteley
I look forward to Thanksgiving this year and all our family coming over. All but one of our kids and grandkids live in other states and are busy with their lives. So, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only times we get to enjoy being together with all of them.
I will admit that I am not looking forward to the same traditional Thanksgiving meal we have every year. Roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie.
Is there a written rule saying you have to have that for Thanksgiving?
Statistics show that 83 percent of Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving and 90 percent of those will fix turkey. Domestic turkey operations churn out 200 million birds a year and most of them are consumed on Thanksgiving. Poor turkeys. We need to stage a protest march. They do for everything else.
My wife wears herself out every year preparing the Thanksgiving meal. I plan to tell her I will prepare the entire meal myself. But, instead of serving turkey, I will fry crappie. I am sure she will probably say, “What about tradition?”
I will explain to her that the first Thanksgiving did not have turkey, potatoes, stuffing, or pie. Instead, they ate turnips, cabbage, squash, venison, and fish that the Native Americans brought. So, fish and venison, I will explain to her, are the most traditional items that could grace our Thanksgiving table.
She is watching her health. So are the daughters-in-law, so I will also tell her that roasting turkey with the skin, stuffing it with seasoned bread, and covering it with gravy may taste good. However, high sodium, saturated fats, and cholesterol, are not good. I will also bake and grill some crappie for them and heart-healthy grilled venison.
She should be glad that instead of turnips, cabbage, and squash, I will grill corn on the cob, fry potatoes and onions, and use my Dutch ovens to cook baked beans, cornbread, and a delicious apple cobbler.
I love cooking outdoors anyway. There will be no mess in her kitchen to clean up and she will have more time with her family.
Now, I will also have to explain to her that for me to do this, I will need to go crappie fishing a lot between now and Thanksgiving to make sure we have enough crappie. Some days, I will also need to deer hunt in the mornings so I have grilled venison for the meal and fish for crappie in the afternoons. I might even have to sacrifice myself by camping out a few times.
After 55 years of marriage, I know her. When I tell her this will be a great sacrifice on my part, but I am willing to do it, she will roll her eyes and shake her head.
Wish me luck. If you are tired of Thanksgiving turkey and want a good excuse to go deer hunting and crappie fishing, you might want to try this with your wife so you too can have venison and Thanksgiving crappie.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say ‘Thank you?” ~ William Arthur Ward, Writer
