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Charlotte Zureick's avatar

I hope one eventual change on the menu will be the removal of turkeys all together. Not many people actually like turkey. After handling this turkey last night I'm thinking about going vegetarian! Great article 👏

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Michael Mercurio's avatar

I personally love turkey, and it's actually what ended a two-year stint as a vegetarian for me a while back. I know it's not for everyone, though, and I certainly recognize that it's not the easiest thing to cook!

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Sarah Zureick-Brown's avatar

I like turkey too, but I've never had to make one. This year I'm making a shepherd's pie with ground turkey to hopefully capture some of the flavors of Thanksgiving with less work.

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Michael Mercurio's avatar

I find food history and trends so fascinating, so this is the perfect post for today! Somewhere, in some parallel universe, there's a version of me with a PhD in American Studies who researches and writes extensively about these things. (In this universe, I just do it as a hobby.)

Have either of you ever encountered Sylvia Lovegren's cookbook Fashionable Food: Seven Decades of Food Fads? It's really focused on the 20th century, but I think you'd still find it interesting: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo3534230.html

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Sarah Zureick-Brown's avatar

I have not seen that book. Thanks for the recommendation. I've also long been fascinated with food history and trends. I have a small collection of older cookbooks including my favorite, Saucepan and the Single Girl.

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Michael Mercurio's avatar

That's a great title! I'll have to look for it — I've got a few older cookbooks myself, which I love reading through for inspiration.

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Lisa Maguire's avatar

So entertaining to read! I love food history.

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Lori Olson White's avatar

Always a fan of culinary history and this piece definitely brought a smile to my face! I’m always surprised when I come across eel on the menu, though my history-loving grandson loves to remind me it was the original protein for the pilgrims 😉 Thanks for your effort though n this piece.

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