My Thanksgiving Icon: A Love Letter to Bell's Seasoning

It isn't Thanksgiving for me without Bell's Seasoning.
I mean, just look at it! 

Admittedly, when I was growing up, we had an awful lot of Thanksgiving dinners at the Engineer's Club in Philadelphia. My Dad hated turkey, and eating dinner at his club was a way he could avoid having to eat the dreaded stuff. We always hosted the entire family, and it was surprising that only 2 or 3 out of the ten or twelve assembled guests actually ordered a turkey dinner. When Mom made the meal at home, in addition to turkey, there was always a ham so my father wouldn't starve.

So now, I am not a huge fan of roast turkey, unless it's been doctored up in some way, or smoked or grilled. But when it comes to the stuffing, I'm a purist through and through. All the fancy dressings with sourdough, oysters, sausage and what-have-you are all good, but there's better be a bowl of plain, old-fashioned stuffing on the table, too. Plus regular old gravy to drown it in. There is a caveat: The stuffing has to be seasoned with Bell's  Seasoning. Being from the Northeast, and having many New England ties, Bell's has always the go-to seasoning we all used on turkey, chicken, in stuffings and gravy. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving if that perfect, iconic little yellow cardboard box with the turkey on the front, filled with herbs and spices wasn't seen on the kitchen counter during the meal preparation. The recipe they use has been the same for over a century, and they'd better not change it one iota. Please. Bells Seasoning tastes like Thanksgiving to me. It's delicious. Redolent of rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, pepper and marjoram in just the perfect combination. Perfect poultry seasoning. Make note here: I don't work for the company that makes this seasoning and the folks at Bell's haven't paid me to say nice things about the product. I just can't celebrate this holiday without it.

This year, it was rather difficult to find here, and since I only have a couple of tablespoons left in the little box in my cupboard, after cruising two grocery stores hunting for it, I bought two boxes at the third store I visited. Talk about devotion. Yes, I know there are lots of other kinds of poultry seasoning, and I certainly have mixed up plenty of my own. But this is important in a different way. It's about the flavor of love and the past. And yes,I also use it in many other preparations that have nothing to do with Thanksgiving, or turkey, but that has nothing to do with this right now.

Even though I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year, I am cooking some turkey just so we have some as "leftovers",  and it wouldn't feel right NOT to have that little box somewhere on the counter.

Just a couple of turkey thighs, braised with a little Bell's Seasoning, white wine and onions.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all and remember that in spite of all the other details, it matters more what's on the chairs than on the table.

Fie, Fie, Foe, Friday: It's Not Even Thanksgiving Yet!

I had to hit a local Dollar Store today for some tissue paper. No biggie, but here we are, a week shy of Thanksgiving and there were virtually NO Thanksgiving items around. No paper plates embellished with pilgrims or goofy looking turkeys. No turkey frills, no plastic decorative turkeys. Nothing but the usual dollar store stuff , and Christmas, Christmas, Christmas. The whole business is kind of depressing. Same deal in Macy's and the other department stores here, except for Nordstrom.  Bless them. Thanksgiving is simply the starting gun for the holiday shopping race.

Now, since I work in retail, I do understand about the Christmas thing, and even I start my Christmas shopping in October. But as a food lover, I am incensed that the one true food-centric holiday, even if it is too tightly bound in tradition, is given such short shrift between Halloween and Christmas in most places. Thank heaven I work in a kitchenware store and WE know how to promote a delicious Thanksgiving. There is no other holiday where the point of it is just to sit around the table and feast, giving thanks for what you have and those around you. Shame, isn't it?

Thankful that Kitchen Kapers, where I work,
 has the Thanksgiving Spirit, at least until Black Friday.
...This photo is from the store in Ardmore PA.

As a blogger, I keep thinking that I should be giving you scads of Thanksgiving recipes, but I'm not. Even next week, they won't be all that Turkey-Day oriented. But I do have just two pieces of advice: Be thankful, since we really can't fathom how lucky we all are, and use a good meat thermometer on that turkey.