420 
Celery may be served filled with cream cheese 
these vegetables are cauliflower, pumpkin, carrots or turnips, 
all of which are easy to procure in November. 
Y way of an appetizer to the feast and, if one likes, in 
place of soup as a prelude to so heavy a dinner, halves 
of grapefruit may be served in new long-stemmed grape- 
fruit cups, with the fruit in its central receptacle reposing in 
a nest of cracked ice, adorned with a circle of cherries. One 
cherry rests in the center of the fruit, where sugar replaces 
Seed: 
TER turkey and vegetables have been removed a light 
salad should follow, and this may be of lettuce, romaine 
or fruit, with a preference for Thanksgiving salad made of 
seedless or seeded grapes, with mayonnaise sauce. The fol- 
lowing smooth salad dressing can be made.in three minutes: 
Mash the yolks of hard-boiled eggs with pepper, salt and a 
pinch of mustard; stir in oil until the mixture thins, when a 
raw egg should be beaten in and a little vinegar slowly 
added, followed by the chopped whites of eggs. 
ELERY, of course, accompanies every Thanksgiving 
turkey, just as pumpkin and mince pies or tarts, with 
fruit, nuts and raisins precede the café noir that closes the 
feast. A delicious way to serve the celery is to stuff the 
groove in each stem with cream cheese mixed with finely 
chopped nuts and olives. ‘Treated in this manner, it is ar- 
ranged on flat celery dishes and adds piquancy to the meal. 
N the event that a relish, followed by soup, is preferred to 
grapefruit as a first course to the dinner, consommé, 
vegetable, cream-of-celery or cream-of-tomato soups are all 
suitable to Thanksgiving, as all are light in character. It 
will be found that an appetizing element is introduced into 
cream-of-tomato soup by mashing a can of corn through the 
strainer (which retains the pulp) into the tomato soup and 
boiling it a few minutes with some chopped parsely and a 
lump of butter before milk is added, as the milk will curdle 
if allowed to boil in the tomatoes. With these soups bread 
sticks give an attractive touch to the table. 
EERE) (CR xeon foc eft xe fi coco el ERT) (ONC fet ccc aon el foe ooo ef menfocnn beh A) (O] (SES} 
MAKING THE MOST OF THE TURKEY 
By Phebe Westcott Humphreys 
occasional holiday treats in the form of wild fowl, or 
the ordinary domestic ducks and chickens that are to be pre- 
pared for the holiday feasts, this is the season when the in- 
experienced housewife is eager for the best advice in prep- 
arations for roasting, dressing and garnishing. Even the 
experienced housewife, familiar with delicious changes in 
chestnut, oyster, and plain bread “‘stuffiings,” will find pleas- 
ure in testing additional flavorings and the merits of steam- 
ing and plumping in addition to the roasting, while the pos- 
sibilities of utilizing left-overs from the holiday feasting will 
form a decidedly interesting source of information among 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
November, 1911 
the hostess-caterers who are eagerly anticipating holiday 
guests and ““homecomings.”’ 
O prepare the fowl forroasting(we will call it turkey in 
this instance, although the process is practically the same 
for other fowls), carefully remove all pin-feathers and singe 
by holding it over an alcohol flame or the lighted burner of 
the gas stove. Or, if these are not convenient, simply light 
some loosely crumpled paper on top of the range and hold 
and turn the turkey over this until every portion is free from 
hairs, leaving the skin smooth and clean. Next lay the 
turkey on its back on the kitchen table, with plenty of room 
on every side for working to advantage. A paper spread 
on the table will keep the board clean and save time in dis- 
posing of the refuse. Make an incision beneath the breast 
bone as small as possible, allowing only sufficient room for 
‘drawing,’ as the stuffing will be retained to better advan- 
tage and the finished product will be much neater, without a 
gaping, ragged opening, after roasting. Pull the skin back 
from the neck, after the head has been removed, and cut 
off two or three inches of the neck without removing the 
skin, leaving this to turn back and tie in place to retain the’ 
stufing in the crop cavity. To remove the crop, do not 
make a slit in the skin above the breast, in the usual manner, 
but pull out the entire crop, bag and contents, without break- 
ing, through the neck opening. Remove the windpipe and 
glands from the inner skin of the neck, and there will be a 
smooth, clean cavity to retain a goodly portion of the tasty 
stuffing in this section of the turkey. Do not forget to re- 
move the oil bag on the upper side of the tail. Then on 
inserting the fingers to ‘‘draw”’ the turkey, loosen the insides 
carefully, reaching up near the breastbone and working 
down, loosening from both sides without breaking the intes- 
tines, and the entire entrails will be drawn out intact, with 
the big cavity clean. Then reach in again with the fingers 
and separate the “‘lights’”’ or lungs, with all the little red 
particles, from the ribs. The turkey can then be thoroughly 
washed inside and out, and wiped dry; and it is ready for 
the stuffing. 
APPETIZING DRESSINGS. 
N preparing the dressing or the stuffing for the turkey, a 
knowledge of good flavoring will be the main point; 
whether it is filled with chestnut, oyster or bread stuffing, 
this portion of the roast should be rich and delicious, and 
serve as an appetizer, and of sufficient quantity to serve 
The festive bird, our national table joy 
plentifully with each “helping” of the roast, and not, as is 
too often the case, be a tasteless, soggy mixture. 
There are various ways of preparing these fillings. For 
the chestnut mixture the nuts may be creamed or left in 
halves without mashing. For the creamed dressing, boil a 
quart or more of chestnuts with a little salt water. When 
done remove the shells, mash the nuts with a wooden potato 
masher, or press through a vegetable sieve; add a table- 
