November 25th, 2024

Good mornings folks,

This week’s JC is a "reprise" from two years ago, as I am taking a "break" from John’s Corner. This year we will be celebrating Thanksgiving at our home is Penn Yan. We have invited children, siblings, family and friends. We have about 30 people attending. If anyone finds themselves alone on Thanksgiving, please send me a private message. There will be lots of dressing!

ALL ABOUT THE "DRESSING’ from November 21st, 2022

Good Morning Folks,

The first Thanksgivings that I recall as a young child were at my grandmother’s large home on Scio Street in the center city. It was where we always gathered for every holiday. My mother and father, my uncles and aunts  and our many cousins. We would fill up the dining room which was outfitted with a long table. There were always at least 30 people there with many others just stopping by to give a holiday greeting (my grandmother was from a family of 13!). We were a people in transition….immigrants becoming Americans. We tried to straddle the border of the two cultures. It was a feast for eating and we were all about it. We would start off with celery stalks stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese, olives, lupini beans and assorted breads. Then came the soup made with turkey parts and fresh vegetables and noodles. After that they brought out a large salad and either lasagna, raviolis, or manicotti and meatballs or braciole. It was a tried and true Italian feast which we all dug in and enjoyed. Then, after the women cleared away the dishes, they brought out the turkey… as large a turkey as they could fit in the oven. It was dressed with stuffing and included mashed potatoes, squash, green beans, cranberry sauce and bread. We were AMERICANS!!! I remember just staring at the turkey and thinking how can we eat this? We pushed on…..it was an entire day of eating. There was even room for traditional desserts (pumpkin pie and cannoli) because we were there to eat all day! 

    Now the time came when the families had expanded and my grandmother eventually sold the big house in the city and moved to a small house in the suburbs. Then the individual families started having their own Thanksgiving. My mother had totally Americanized. She skipped the Italian part of the feast and went right to the turkey. Yes, we were secure in our new heritage and we were going to partake in it fully…..a HUGE turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, cranberry sauce and of course stuffing. Now the stuffing or dressing was very special because it was made with the bread from my father’s bakery. My mother would stuff the turkey in the morning with the seasoned bread, diced vegetables, fruit, herbs and chestnuts. There was always too much dressing so she would put the remainder in the oven in a casserole dish or flat pan. Now I distinctly remember us all sitting down at the big Thanksgiving table, there were six kids in our family plus always a few friends and our parents. Halfway through the dinner my mother let out a shout. "oh no….I forgot the dressing in the oven!" She pulled out a pan of crisped, brown and hardened dressing. I remember her being very tearful about forgetting it, but we calmed her down and said we like it better this way. It had the consistency of a chewy cracker. We would just sop it up with gravy and gobble it down. Thus a family with tradition was born…the dry dressing…and every year I make that dry, crispy dressing in memory of that fateful day. Still today my kids look for it and as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year at my daughter Kara‘s house, I’m sure there will be a big plate of "dry dressing" along with all of the traditional dishes!

Sincerely,

John Bernunzio 

For those who may be interested all of the past, John corners are available for your perusal in the following link:

https://bernunzio.com/johns-corner-archive/

 With peace,

John Bernunzio

John’s Corner….. the store will be open the day after Thanksgiving and I will be holding court. There will be lots and lots of deals for those who stop by. Check our website and stop by the store for some leftovers on Black Friday.

Our friend Ken Luk made the news!

a blessing 

Star Shine…. The Penn Yan celebration beginning the Christmas season will be on December 7th from 3-6 with the parade to follow. There will be all kinds of activities downtown. We will be having an open house and all are invited.

The "old country" is calling me…