Daddy’s ‘turkey mistake’ still remembered

Published 1:00 pm Sunday, November 29, 2020

Followers of this column may know the unusual backstory of my growing up. Childhood memories are the fodder for such writings, especially around the holidays. For those who are the unfamiliar, let me give a brief explanation.

Our mother, Olive, was an invalid, bedridden for half her life because of rheumatoid arthritis. She was able to manage many aspects of her household and her four children from her bed and did a wonderful job. Earl Deare Sr., our father, had a mid-level management job to provide for the needs of Mother and us four children. On top of that, Daddy would help by preparing breakfast and supper. He’d learned how to cook from his mother who owned a café called “Mother Deare’s,” a New Iberia landmark on Jane Street in the 1940s, and ‘50s.

This satisfactory routine worked for 363 days of the year; but it was the two big holidays that caused anxiety: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Daddy cooked those too, but not without the occasional glitches. Baking a big turkey, preparing the side dishes, and setting a fancy table were things he tried and usually succeeded. We invited family to join us in the rarely used dining room at a big table set with the fancy dinnerware. (What made it “fancy” was the fact that there were enough matching plates to make for a simple, attractive presentation. It wasn’t fine china by any stretch of the imagination.)

And for the most part Daddy did everything with his usual dedication and love for us, hoping to make the holidays as normal as possible and to make memories like all the other families we knew. But the occasions we are likely to relive with our own families when we gather together these many years later are the times things didn’t go as planned.

There was the time Daddy washed and seasoned the turkey, put it in the oven for the required time, proudly brought it to the table, and presented it to the assembled family members. He had been working tirelessly since dawn, making sure his famous cornbread dressing, candied yams, and peas were set out in serving dishes on a starched white tablecloth ready to be consumed. It was time for the carving, bringing to mind the famous Norman Rockwell cover of the Saturday Evening Post magazine.

Anticipation and eager appetites were evident on the faces of those around the table. But as he began to carve the breast, his knife cut into something unexpected—the little bag of giblets that had been tucked into the top of the turkey breast. He had forgotten to remove it when he was getting the bird ready for the oven!

There was no harm done, except perhaps to Daddy’s ego. My sisters and I never forgot his turkey “faux pas”. We have used this tale as a reminder to one another and to our own children as fall holidays come around.

“Don’t forget to remove that pack in the neck!” we say with a giggle, but also with a lot of love and appreciation for the special holiday meals as well as the thousands of others Daddy planned and cooked for us.

JULAINE DEARE SCHEXNAYDER is retired after a varied career in teaching and public relations. Her email address is julaines14@gmail.