Mom, something smells funky

Mom, something smells funky

Here in Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, unlike our American friends. Families will get together to enjoy a delicious meal. We hold Thanksgiving since January 31, 1957, on the first Monday every year. Our families are going over to our parent’s house for our dinner. There will be nine of us sitting around the table.

This year the family wanted to eat something different from the traditional turkey. Spice things up a bit. Everyone is in for a surprise.

Everyone is hungry and excited about the delicious dinner they are going to have. Two weeks before the day Julie is doing her grocery shopping, and she sees a capon in the store. The price is good, so she picks up the capon for the family dinner. Julie immediately takes the capon over to her Mom’s and puts it in her freezer until the day.

The night before, Rose lifts out the capon and thaws it in the refrigerator overnight. Early morning, she puts it in the sink in ice-cold water to finish thawing. She prepares the vegetables in the morning, that way they only need reheating before dinner. She is busy washing and peeling the potatoes, getting the brussel sprouts ready, they make the stuffing; it keeps her busy for the day. They put the capon in the oven early in the afternoon. They set dinner at 5:30 pm.

Julie and her sister show up with their families at 4:30 pm to help their mother with supper. Dana is the first one through the door and notices something doesn’t smell right. She says to Julie “Julie do you smell something rancid?” “something just doesn’t smell right”. Julie agrees. Something doesn’t seem right. They couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from. Julie stands at the stove and checks the vegetables. They are cooking properly, and no smell from them. The sisters decide to walk around the house and check out each room. No weird smells. Between them, they try to figure out where the smell could come from. It literally smells like meat gone off, rancid. The food is ready, the table already set, and it’s time to lift out the capon. Rose opens the oven door and immediately the smell is stronger. Julie and Dana finally realize the source of the smell, the bird.

Now what to do they think, the main dish they cannot eat, and there is no backup for it. There are only a handful of places open, due to it being Thanksgiving weekend. What to do. Well, the only choice is to head to KFC and grab some chicken for supper. Hey, at least it’s still poultry, what’s the difference everyone is thinking. Bob and Dave grab the car keys, and off to the restaurant they go. Julie and Dana put the rest of the supper in the oven to stay warm. Rose wraps the bird in several bags and tosses it in the garbage.

They return within twenty minutes with the food. Everyone grabs a bowl of vegetables and it is time to eat. Rose opens the front door to let out the smell as everyone sits down in their chair. Everyone grabs a place and fills up their plate. Everyone is still in disbelief.

Julie asks her mom, “how can you not notice the horrible smell coming from the bird? I smell nothing bad, and you know your dad cannot smell anything anyhow”, so the smell goes undetected until the kids come over. As soon as the kids open the door, the smell permeates, and it smells horrible.

Julie is filling her plate and her sister Dana notices she’s taking a little more carrots and turnips than she should. Julie’s favourite veggie that her mom makes is that. Her sister Dana notices it and puts her arm up in the air angrily saying, “Hey little sis, go easy on the veggies, others want to eat some too.” She reluctantly stops taking anymore.

Everyone notices Dana and her mom polishing off the brussel sprouts. The family is gagging watching them as they eat them. Everyone is eating, talking, and laughing. Family times are the best when everyone is together. There are lots to talk about.

Everyone has had enough, and now it’s time for dessert. Dana has brought over a pumpkin pie and an apple crumble. We quickly reheat them it’s time to dig in.

It is now time for the dishes. Their mom and dad do not own a dishwasher, so everything will be washed and dried by hand. Julie offers to dry everything, while Dana offers to wash. Rose offers to help with so many dishes, but the girls refuse. She cooked it all, it’s her time to rest now and insists she goes and sits down. Rose retires to the living room to watch TV with her husband Glynn, and the rest of the family.

 Rose insists that the girls take some leftovers home, so they find some bowls and Ziploc bags, and take what they want home. Dana makes sure that Julie doesn’t take all the carrots and turnips home. In the kitchen, they can hear the family talking about the rancid bird. Julie wonders if her mom didn’t properly freeze or thaw it, or did she buy a rancid bird from the store? They will never figure it out. Julie feels guilty she could have bought it, not knowing that it would ruin everyone’s Thanksgiving supper.

The smell has subsided, so Julie grabs the air freshener, spraying it all around the house. Everyone is in the living room now, watching the news before it’s time to head home. You can see Julie is feeling guilty about the bird. Everyone reassures her and her mother that it was not their fault. No one would have known. They were all grateful that KFC was open. At least dinner wasn’t totally ruined.

They realize it’s seven-thirty pm, time for everyone to call it a night and go home. The family laments again that they were grateful for the chicken, at least they had a good meal, and everyone was full. They hug each other and proceed home.