My youngest brother Chris doesn’t know it (until he reads this), but he called my bluff.
Since our parents, Frank and Betty, provided six decades of holiday traditions, we seven siblings and spouses figured it was time for us to step up to the dinner plate and take turns hosting the holidays in our homes.
Chris and his beautiful bride Amanda have hosted the Hommel Thanksgivings at their home for the past five years, while their five children have pitched in to clean and set and decorate tables for their 30+ grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
So this year when there were no Thanksgiving rumblings I sent out a sibling text:
“Thanksgiving? Our house?”
Last year I sent out a similar note and my older sister Debbie quickly responded:
“We plan on doing Christmas at our house.”
And Chris responded: “We can have Thanksgiving at our house.”
Bingo — see how that worked?
This year as usual, Debbie cheerily responded: “Fine with me…I can host Christmas!”
But Chris responded: “We’re fine with that, thanks for opening up your doors.”
Drat!
Now please don’t judge me — I love having family over and we do Easter and summer hosting. It’s just the turkey thing. The husband, Steve, thinks my turkey is well…kind of dry. But I believe it’s smarter to err on the well-done-overcooked-side rather than the salmonella-sick family side. I don’t have many fears, but killing my family with my cooking is maybe one.
I have deliberately chosen to make a life-long commitment to never consume — or even wear, for that matter — anything with a pink hue. I like my hamburgers fully cooked and I have tried sushi once on New Years Eve in 1987 — that was enough.
But just to give my nieces and nephews reassurance that it will be safe to eat at Aunt Janny’s this year (and to keep the hubby from pulling the turkey out of the oven too early) I will be hanging this Nov. 8 CDC report near my oven — but not too close because that would be a fire hazard:
“CDC and public health and regulatory officials in several states are investigating a multistate outbreak of multi-drug resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw turkey products. People infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella as of November 5, 2018 = 164. (This includes reports from 35 states.)
It’s not even Thanksgiving yet! The good news is that only three of those are from Indiana. The highest numbers of recent turkey salmonella ill people are from Minnesota, Illinois and California. I plan on doing my part in keeping Indiana on the low side!
I don’t know how many of you Johnson County neighbors enjoy perusing the titillating CDC reports, but they continue to advise consumers to follow these steps to help prevent Salmonella infection from raw turkey:
Wash your hands. One would think this message would suffice, but the CDC likes to elaborate. “Salmonella infections can spread from one person to another. Wash hands before and after preparing or eating food, after contact with animals, and after using the restroom or changing diapers.”
They could have at least written it Dr. Seuss-style:
I will wash them after preparing meat
I will wash them after having a seat
I will wash them after petting a goat
I will wash them after passing the gravy boat.
I will NOT spread salmonella from a gobbling bird,
Thanksgiving will be happy and undeterred.
The CDC continues with great tips like:
Don’t spread germs from raw turkey around the food preparation areas.
Thaw the turkey in the refrigerator
Don’t feed raw diets to pets
But the CDC advice I take to heart: “Cook raw turkey thoroughly to kill harmful germs. Turkey should always be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F to kill harmful germs. Leftovers should be reheated to 165 degrees F.
My advice? Buy a gobbler with those pop-up thermometers, so you have someone to blame. And never, ever try and bluff your brother.
Happy Thanksgiving!
