Basting the Blues Away

It's a little known fact, but most Harvardians from the Southern California know how to baste a turkey.

I haven't gone home for Thanksgiving since I came to Harvard because, until recently, home was in Pasadena, Calif. And cross-country travel is simply not cost effective when it means only three-and-a-half days of home cooking.

For the past two years, that's meant having Thanksgiving at Harvard, which is as much fun as home ever was. My first year, we had about two dozen Southern Californians gather in the common room of Canaday Hall for a full-dress Thanksgiving dinner.

Preparing dinner for that many people isn't easy, especially when all you have is the Canaday kitchen. Plus, what with women outnumbering the men in our party by 2-to-1--and this being the '90s, the decade when women no longer know how to cook and clean, and men are wedded to bachelorhood--the few men in attendance were the only ones who knew how to do much more than boil water.

It was an epic trip to the Porter Square Star Market. On the return trip on the T, two of us carried back a 22-pound turkey, three boxes of Stove Top stuffing, two boxes of instant mashed potatoes, a head of lettuce, four liters of soft drinks, plus tomatoes, cucumbers, a turkey baster, a pan to cook the turkey, salt, pepper and assorted herbs and spices.

After more than five hours in the oven, the bird came out perfectly. The stuffing was a little overcooked, but in general, the preparation of dinner went pretty well. Of course, there was a small disaster when one of the women ventured into the men's lair of the kitchen and set part of the Canaday kitchen counter on fire.

Last Thanksgiving, we got the same group of Californians together and once again did Thanksgiving dinner, this time in North House. We also made Aunt Fern's Chocolate Pie, a Mathews family recipe which calls for butter, chocolate, sugar and not much else.

But this year, I'm going home to visit my family in New York, where we moved last year. It will be my first Thanksgiving at home since I came to school. I suspect my California friends will get together and even try to make dinner. By now, they all know how to baste a turkey.

Joe Mathews '95 is an investigative reporter for The Crimson.