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I haven’t wanted to bring this up, but something strange happens to people on 1)Thanksgiving.
I don’t mean that they suddenly change their hair color and go on shopping 2)sprees or anything like that. I mean that something compels otherwise reasonable people to make the same traditional family Thanksgiving 3)stuffing recipe year after year, no matter what.
If you don’t believe me, ask my friend Kathy. Most of the rest of the year she successfully tries to avoid cooking. But each Thanksgiving, she wakes up at dawn and spends hours—HOURS—in the kitchen making
4)Wild Rice Stuffing with 5)Pearl Onions and 6)Bacon Bits, a traditional family recipe that’s been passed down from mother to daughter for five generations.
“Why don’t you just 7)sleep in and buy a container of instant stuffing mix?” I suggested one day over coffee.
But I could tell by the way she rolled her eyes and said, “But that’s not the way we do it,” that it would just be 8)plain wrong.
Then there’s Kathleen. For as long as I’ve known her she has had a policy on adding handfuls of olives to her stuffing. Oh, not because of any special flavor or because her family particularly likes them but because, as she put it simply, “That’s what my mother always did.” It doesn’t seem to matter that her mother actually hates olives and has no idea why she did it that way either.
But things could be worse. Due to a cruel twist of fate, my friend Carol’s husband insisted on bringing along his own family’s stuffing recipe when they got married. Since Carol didn’t want to bother making two different 9)batches, she decided to merge them together, and now her Thanksgiving stuffing is a mostly 10)inedible 11)concoction of Brazil nuts, 12)buttermilk, chopped onions, and pineapple.
There are, of course, always the exceptions. My neighbor Sue refuses to make any stuffing at all because last Thanksgiving her fa-mily’s traditional “apple-13)almond-14)sage stuffing” recipe 15)fell under suspicion. It started when she found out that a 16)certain cousin named Heidi follows a traditional recipe for apple-17)walnut-sausage stuffing that was given to her by a
18)great-aunt who was known for her orange-walnut-19)fennel stuffing. I ask you, how do you 20)get to the bottom of that?
However, we all know what’s clearly going on here.
Thanksgiving stuffing, in a subtle way, connects each generation as few other foods can. Sure, over the years the recipes may change a bit, and you might not be able to explain exactly why you’re supposed to add a cup of crushed oysters to the
21)breadcrumbs. But that’s OK; everyone just goes along with it anyway.
Then, of course, there are people like me, whose traditional family stuffing recipe comes from the back of a 22)crouton box. I’m not sure what this says about my family—except that I come from a long line of people who can’t cook. Or perhaps they’re just practical. Either way it’s not much of a legacy.
And, truth be told, I’m not sure what to do about it except to try to change the recipe. In fact, this year I think I’ll add a dash of 23)vermouth and some dried cherries and maybe even an oyster or two.
And if my kids complain about it I’ll just calmly explain that it’s OK if they don’t like it. In fact, they don’t even have to eat it. The most important thing is that we’re creating a new family tradition to pass on together.
And then—well, then, we could all leave and go to a restaurant.
我本来并没打算写这篇文章，可是人们在感恩节有一些不同寻常的举动，值得一书。
我并不是说他们突然染了发、进行疯狂大购物或者其他类似的举动。我的意思是，有某种东西在控制着人们，就连那些理智的人也每年都在家里做传统的感恩节填料，年复一年，决不改变。
你要是不相信，尽管问问我的朋友凯西好了。一年中的绝大部分时间里，她都成功地避开了下厨的任务。可是每年的感恩节这一天，天刚拂晓她就起床了，然后花几个小时待在厨房里——几个小时！——精心制作她的“菰米、腌小洋葱、腊肉丁填料”。这是她家传统的感恩节填料配方，由母亲传给女儿，足足传了五代。
“你为什么不睡个懒觉，然后去买一盒即食的混合填料呢？”有一天我们一起喝咖啡时，我建议道。
她眼珠一转，回答说：“那不是我们的惯常做法。”但从她的神情我可以看得出，其实她的意思是说：那样做是万万不可的。
还有凯瑟琳。自我认识她起，我就知道她有一个惯例——她总会往填料里加少许橄榄。她这样做的原因，并不是想增加什么特殊的风味，也并非她的家人特别喜欢橄榄，而是因为“我母亲总是这样做。”——她一语道破其中非常简单的缘由。哪怕她母亲实际上非常讨厌橄榄，或者根本不知道自己为什么要这样做，也似乎并不重要。
还有更糟糕的情况。我朋友卡罗尔“命运悲惨”，她的丈夫坚持要在婚后沿用他家的传统填料配方。由于卡罗尔不想那么麻烦，去弄两份不同的填料，所以她决定把两种填料混在一起。于是，她的感恩节填料通常都是难以下咽的巴西坚果、酪乳、洋葱片及菠萝的混合物。
当然，凡事总有例外。我的邻居苏就拒绝做任何填料，原因是去年感恩节她家传统的“苹果、杏仁、鼠尾草”填料配方遭到了质疑。事情的经过是这样的：她发现一位名叫海蒂的表妹做的是“苹果、胡桃、香肠”填料，这个传统填料配方是由一位姑婆传给她的，而这位姑婆最拿手的是“橘子、胡桃、茴香”填料。我问你，这种追本溯源可能有结果吗？
然而，我们都知道感恩节传统填料的确切意义所在。
感恩节填料是为数不多的能将每一代人微妙地联系在一起的几种食物之一。诚然，随着时间的流逝，这些填料可能会发生少许变化，而且你也许无法确切地解释为什么你会在面包片中夹一些碎牡蛎。然而，这是绝对没问题的，无论怎样每个人都能接受。
当然，总有像我一样的人，家族传统填料配方来自装油炸面包丁的盒子的背后。我不知道这说明了我家族的什么问题——除了说明我们家祖祖辈辈都不会烹饪以外。或许他们只是讲求实际而已。无论如何，我们家在这上面没什么传统可言。
说实话，我不知道该怎么做，除了设法不断变换填料配方。事实上，我想今年我会加一些味美思酒，一些干樱桃，或者一两只牡蛎也未尝不可。
如果我的孩子们抱怨难吃，我会平静地解释说，他们不喜欢也没关系。事实上，他们甚至可以不吃它。最重要的是，我们在创立一项可以一起传下去的新的家庭传统。
然后，我们大可以离开家门下馆子去了。
注：“本文中所涉及到的图表、注解、公式等内容请以PDF格式阅读原文。”
I haven’t wanted to bring this up, but something strange happens to people on 1)Thanksgiving.
I don’t mean that they suddenly change their hair color and go on shopping 2)sprees or anything like that. I mean that something compels otherwise reasonable people to make the same traditional family Thanksgiving 3)stuffing recipe year after year, no matter what.
If you don’t believe me, ask my friend Kathy. Most of the rest of the year she successfully tries to avoid cooking. But each Thanksgiving, she wakes up at dawn and spends hours—HOURS—in the kitchen making
4)Wild Rice Stuffing with 5)Pearl Onions and 6)Bacon Bits, a traditional family recipe that’s been passed down from mother to daughter for five generations.
“Why don’t you just 7)sleep in and buy a container of instant stuffing mix?” I suggested one day over coffee.
But I could tell by the way she rolled her eyes and said, “But that’s not the way we do it,” that it would just be 8)plain wrong.
Then there’s Kathleen. For as long as I’ve known her she has had a policy on adding handfuls of olives to her stuffing. Oh, not because of any special flavor or because her family particularly likes them but because, as she put it simply, “That’s what my mother always did.” It doesn’t seem to matter that her mother actually hates olives and has no idea why she did it that way either.
But things could be worse. Due to a cruel twist of fate, my friend Carol’s husband insisted on bringing along his own family’s stuffing recipe when they got married. Since Carol didn’t want to bother making two different 9)batches, she decided to merge them together, and now her Thanksgiving stuffing is a mostly 10)inedible 11)concoction of Brazil nuts, 12)buttermilk, chopped onions, and pineapple.
There are, of course, always the exceptions. My neighbor Sue refuses to make any stuffing at all because last Thanksgiving her fa-mily’s traditional “apple-13)almond-14)sage stuffing” recipe 15)fell under suspicion. It started when she found out that a 16)certain cousin named Heidi follows a traditional recipe for apple-17)walnut-sausage stuffing that was given to her by a
18)great-aunt who was known for her orange-walnut-19)fennel stuffing. I ask you, how do you 20)get to the bottom of that?
However, we all know what’s clearly going on here.
Thanksgiving stuffing, in a subtle way, connects each generation as few other foods can. Sure, over the years the recipes may change a bit, and you might not be able to explain exactly why you’re supposed to add a cup of crushed oysters to the
21)breadcrumbs. But that’s OK; everyone just goes along with it anyway.
Then, of course, there are people like me, whose traditional family stuffing recipe comes from the back of a 22)crouton box. I’m not sure what this says about my family—except that I come from a long line of people who can’t cook. Or perhaps they’re just practical. Either way it’s not much of a legacy.
And, truth be told, I’m not sure what to do about it except to try to change the recipe. In fact, this year I think I’ll add a dash of 23)vermouth and some dried cherries and maybe even an oyster or two.
And if my kids complain about it I’ll just calmly explain that it’s OK if they don’t like it. In fact, they don’t even have to eat it. The most important thing is that we’re creating a new family tradition to pass on together.
And then—well, then, we could all leave and go to a restaurant.
我本来并没打算写这篇文章，可是人们在感恩节有一些不同寻常的举动，值得一书。
我并不是说他们突然染了发、进行疯狂大购物或者其他类似的举动。我的意思是，有某种东西在控制着人们，就连那些理智的人也每年都在家里做传统的感恩节填料，年复一年，决不改变。
你要是不相信，尽管问问我的朋友凯西好了。一年中的绝大部分时间里，她都成功地避开了下厨的任务。可是每年的感恩节这一天，天刚拂晓她就起床了，然后花几个小时待在厨房里——几个小时！——精心制作她的“菰米、腌小洋葱、腊肉丁填料”。这是她家传统的感恩节填料配方，由母亲传给女儿，足足传了五代。
“你为什么不睡个懒觉，然后去买一盒即食的混合填料呢？”有一天我们一起喝咖啡时，我建议道。
她眼珠一转，回答说：“那不是我们的惯常做法。”但从她的神情我可以看得出，其实她的意思是说：那样做是万万不可的。
还有凯瑟琳。自我认识她起，我就知道她有一个惯例——她总会往填料里加少许橄榄。她这样做的原因，并不是想增加什么特殊的风味，也并非她的家人特别喜欢橄榄，而是因为“我母亲总是这样做。”——她一语道破其中非常简单的缘由。哪怕她母亲实际上非常讨厌橄榄，或者根本不知道自己为什么要这样做，也似乎并不重要。
还有更糟糕的情况。我朋友卡罗尔“命运悲惨”，她的丈夫坚持要在婚后沿用他家的传统填料配方。由于卡罗尔不想那么麻烦，去弄两份不同的填料，所以她决定把两种填料混在一起。于是，她的感恩节填料通常都是难以下咽的巴西坚果、酪乳、洋葱片及菠萝的混合物。
当然，凡事总有例外。我的邻居苏就拒绝做任何填料，原因是去年感恩节她家传统的“苹果、杏仁、鼠尾草”填料配方遭到了质疑。事情的经过是这样的：她发现一位名叫海蒂的表妹做的是“苹果、胡桃、香肠”填料，这个传统填料配方是由一位姑婆传给她的，而这位姑婆最拿手的是“橘子、胡桃、茴香”填料。我问你，这种追本溯源可能有结果吗？
然而，我们都知道感恩节传统填料的确切意义所在。
感恩节填料是为数不多的能将每一代人微妙地联系在一起的几种食物之一。诚然，随着时间的流逝，这些填料可能会发生少许变化，而且你也许无法确切地解释为什么你会在面包片中夹一些碎牡蛎。然而，这是绝对没问题的，无论怎样每个人都能接受。
当然，总有像我一样的人，家族传统填料配方来自装油炸面包丁的盒子的背后。我不知道这说明了我家族的什么问题——除了说明我们家祖祖辈辈都不会烹饪以外。或许他们只是讲求实际而已。无论如何，我们家在这上面没什么传统可言。
说实话，我不知道该怎么做，除了设法不断变换填料配方。事实上，我想今年我会加一些味美思酒，一些干樱桃，或者一两只牡蛎也未尝不可。
如果我的孩子们抱怨难吃，我会平静地解释说，他们不喜欢也没关系。事实上，他们甚至可以不吃它。最重要的是，我们在创立一项可以一起传下去的新的家庭传统。
然后，我们大可以离开家门下馆子去了。
注：“本文中所涉及到的图表、注解、公式等内容请以PDF格式阅读原文。”