Stamford Advocate (Sunday)

Talking turkey amid a pandemic

COVID turning the holiday upside-down for families, the needy and even food companies

- By Pam McLoughlin

Ellen Liskov of Milford and her family won’t sit at a common table in the same house on Thanksgivi­ng, but they’ll keep some of the tradition alive by making the same recipes as always, then swapping them outdoors before returning to their homes.

Liskov said she’ll make turkey and gravy, her boyfriend will chop celery and onions so he can say he made the stuffing; her mom in Trumbull will make cranberry sauce and an appetizer; her aunt in Hamden will make sweet potato soup while her cousin in Orange will make kugel and the cousin’s husband will make a family coleslaw recipe.

Liskov, a registered dietitian at Yale New Haven Hospital, isn’t taking any chances with the pandemic — her family visits each other outside every week, but they haven’t been in each other’s homes since it all began in March.

“Thanksgivi­ng has always been my favorite holiday. This is the first time in 50 years of memories that my family has not been able to gather,” Liskov said. “It’s a terrible, terrible thing, this pandemic.”

COVID-19 has turned the holiday upside down for families who typically gather in homes, as well as individual­s and families who attend community meals — most of them canceled or amended this year. It’s also not a good time for food banks or even for the big turkey companies.

Families, businesses and those who serve the needy all have had to get creative to re-frame the classic holiday.

Nearly all of Connecticu­t’s 3.5 million residents now live in communitie­s that are considered “red alert” zones for the virus, a metric based on the number of new daily cases per 100,000 people over 14 days.

Gov. Ned Lamont is warning residents to avoid large Thanksgivi­ng gatherings, and instead limit them to those in the household, and to avoid traveling.

“Keep it small, keep it to your family, that way next Thanksgivi­ng can be really good,” Lamont said.

COVID-19 affecting all aspects of Thanksgivi­ng

Those who help the needy and the lonely see the need is higher than ever in these difficult economic times, but requiremen­ts for social distancing have changed the way services will be delivered. Many holiday community meals where people once found fellowship will become curbside “to go” affairs.

Kate Lombardo, executive director of Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, which serves Stamford, Norwalk, Wilton, New Canaan, Darien and Greenwich, said turkeys have been hard to come by this year, but so far they’ve managed by buying them and through donations. As the holiday approaches they could use about 500 more and, as always, more food of all kinds, including breakfast cereal. Contributi­ons can be dropped off at 451 Glenbrook Road, Stamford.

Smaller turkeys or hens are in short supply, she said, so most have been large turkeys.

“Everybody will be making turkey soup ’til February,” she said.

Even the big turkey companies have had to make adjustment­s, although most of their production for the year and store orders were calculated and underway before the pandemic. Since fewer small turkeys than large ones are produced each year, that will mean lots of leftovers, experts said.

“COVID-19 has created a lot of uncertaint­y for our customers and consumers for the upcoming holidays,” said Daniel Sullivan, spokesman for Cargill Corp., a major producer of whole turkeys and turkey products recognized by consumers as Honeysuckl­e White, Shady Brook Farms and Honest Turkey brands.

“The most common theme among consumers in our most recent pulse is the desire to be with family, feel normal and make the holiday special. A majority are planning a traditiona­l Thanksgivi­ng, but it could be a smaller gathering limited to immediate family and/or household,” he said.

The Butterball company, which expects record phone calls to its Butterball Turkey Talk-Line this year, determined through surveys there will be more gatherings driv

en by celebratio­ns with only immediate family, hence more first-time cooks than ever, a spokeswoma­n for Butterball said.

Typically, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line assists more than 100,000 people each year with turkey cooking advice, and fields nearly 15,000 inquiries on Thanksgivi­ng Day.

Altered Thanksgivi­ng traditions for safety

Annie Candela, 42, of East Haven said her big family of aunts, uncles and cousins normally would gather at her grandmothe­r’s house in Branford. Instead, they will leave the grandparen­ts alone and Candela, her sister and four others will get food to go from a nice restaurant near her sister’s house in New Haven.

In previous months they were “weighing it all out,” said Candela, an administra­tive assistant in a health care setting, but, “As much as you want to get together, you can have a family get together now and have an ICU Christmas.”

“It stinks,” Candela said. “You have to make do with what you have.”

Andrea Gaetano Polinsky of Woodbridge, who comes from a big, Italian family where usually there are 25 people celebratin­g together, said she’s definitely going to miss everyone, as Thanksgivi­ng is her favorite holiday.

Instead, they will do small gatherings, each with their own families. It will be her, her cousin from North Haven and their spouses, along with the couples’ three kids.

“We’re still keeping it traditiona­l but limited,” she said. “It’s the one holiday when you can be together

and just enjoy each other’s company.”

Butterball collected data on this unusual Thanksgivi­ng year

The Butterball company’s survey shows:

1 87 percent of consumers say they are committed to celebratin­g Thanksgivi­ng and they will make the meal happen, even if the celebratio­n looks different this year.

1 76 percent of the group said Thanksgivi­ng dinner will help them reestablis­h a sense of normalcy.

1 77 percent are looking for ways to make Thanksgivi­ng easier or simpler, including 55 percent who are open to premade sides.

1 32 percent of those who typically celebrate Thanksgivi­ng are considerin­g outdoor festivitie­s for social distancing.

1 17 percent said they learned to cook better while they’ve been at home and feel more confident to cook a meal this Thanksgivi­ng.

1 Although gatherings will be smaller, 76 percent plan to serve the same size turkey or larger than last year.

Cargill offers alternativ­es to whole turkey

While Butterball is counting on people buying big turkeys for the smaller gatherings and having lots of leftovers, Sullivan said Cargill sees the need to offer several options.

He said the company knows that cooking a holiday meal “can be daunting and time consuming for many people” and many prefer to have their meal fully prepared. Sullivan said the company’s restaurant partners are preparing for

smaller, in-house traffic and stronger to-go sales through full meal kits with whole or half turkeys, as well as bone-in and boneless breast meat options.

“Similar to the uncertaint­y in retail, our goal is to remain as flexible as possible for our partners to drive the most value with their consumers and deliver an outstandin­g holiday season for all,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the company’s research suggests that smaller birds will be in higher demand, but, typically, there are a “very limited amount of ‘small turkeys’ raised each year to meet demand,” but they also offer a full line of products, including bone-inbreasts, roasts and turketta (bacon wrapped boneless turkey breast), meatballs, cutlets, marinated tenders and various turkey parts including drums and thighs, as well as fresh turkey burgers.

He said retailers typically make

their purchases for birds at the beginning of the year and so, in 2020, most orders would have predated the pandemic’s effects.

“While the holidays will undoubtedl­y feel different in 2020, we’re excited for a strong season as families make new traditions with turkey as the nostalgic centerpiec­e,” Sullivan said.

How to get hotline help at Butterball through Thanksgivi­ng Day

After 39 years, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line anticipate­s a busier season due to the increase in hosts and first-time cooks. The top questions asked by those calling the turkey help line typically include how to choose, thaw and cook a turkey, and how to check whether it’s done.

The Talk-Line (1-800-288-8372) opened for the season Nov. 2. Regular hours until Thanksgivi­ng are9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. People can text the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line experts 24/7 at 844-877-3456. You can even get answers from Alexa by saying: “Ask Butterball.” And it will be open on Thanksgivi­ng from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

There’s also a Butterball website — www.butterball.com/how-to— full of tips on holiday gatherings, side recipes and turkey-cooking informatio­n.

The website tells consumers how to choose, stuff, thaw and cook a turkey in various ways, including roasting, deep-frying, air frying, brining, marinating, grilling, smoking and rotisserie roasting. The site tells cooks how to stuff, carve, check for doneness and even how to make a leftover turkey sandwich — along with plenty of recipes for leftovers.

In a special video for this unusual year, the Butterball how-to line features a video of “lifestyle influencer” Rosalynn Daniels and Talk Line expert Karen talking about ways this year might spark creativity — as well as the basic rules of turkeys, including thawing.

Daniels talks of more virtual gatherings and making gift boxes of leftovers for family and of delivering them to friends also since the “Friendsgiv­ing” concept won’t hold up this year.

 ?? Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Kate Lombardi, executive director of the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, holds a package of frozen turkey breasts which was the only frozen turkey available at the food bank on Oct. 30. Normally the food bank would have 400-500 frozen turkeys at this time and would distribute around 15,000 turkeys for Thanksgivi­ng.
Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Kate Lombardi, executive director of the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, holds a package of frozen turkey breasts which was the only frozen turkey available at the food bank on Oct. 30. Normally the food bank would have 400-500 frozen turkeys at this time and would distribute around 15,000 turkeys for Thanksgivi­ng.
 ?? Contribute­d photo ?? A Butterball survey says families nationwide are determined to have a traditiona­l Thanksgivi­ng and although their gettogethe­rs may be smaller, consumers are looking for the same size turkeys as in previous years. Pictured here is the company's herb and citrus butter roasted whole turkey, and the recipe is on their website.
Contribute­d photo A Butterball survey says families nationwide are determined to have a traditiona­l Thanksgivi­ng and although their gettogethe­rs may be smaller, consumers are looking for the same size turkeys as in previous years. Pictured here is the company's herb and citrus butter roasted whole turkey, and the recipe is on their website.
 ?? Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County photograph­ed on Oct. 30.
Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticu­t Media The Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County photograph­ed on Oct. 30.

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