{"id":49259,"date":"2025-11-23T13:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/49259\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T13:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:27:09","slug":"turkey-jell-o-and-blog-wars-thanksgiving-tales-from-the-staten-island-food-writing-trenches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/49259\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey, Jell-O, and blog wars: Thanksgiving tales from the Staten Island food writing trenches"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 I love Thanksgiving\u2014always have.<\/p>\n

After more than two decades of covering it for the Staten Island Advance, I\u2019ve collected plenty of backstories from the 24-hour Turk-A-Thon days. Not gonna lie \u2014 those nights were brutal after midnight, when no one was truly cooking and only the stragglers were out on the busiest bar night of the year. The downside? Falling asleep in my smashed potatoes the next day. Still, the bleary aftermath was worth it for the war stories \u2014 and for the column fodder I\u2019m sharing now in the spirit of my favorite holiday.<\/p>\n

\"Turkey\"turkey (STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE\/ JAN SOMMA-HAMMEL) For use only for Staten Island Advance food sectionPamela SilvestriThe Blog Days: Turning Tables<\/p>\n

Back then, my blog was called Turning Tables, a nod to restaurant life and flipping the script. By Year Three, I had cemented a Thanksgiving Eve tradition: revisiting the WKRP turkey drop and channeling my best Les Nessman. And in 2008, I added something extra \u2014 live help for last-minute turkey questions. From 7 p.m. Thanksgiving Eve through 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, I answered cooking queries and shared stories from Staten Island\u2019s restaurant community. Topics ranged from \u201cThose Dreadful Dishes\u201d to \u201cIs it safe to feed table scraps to the dog?\u201d \u2014 all aimed at keeping the holiday stress-free…and readers mildly entertained. Those who tuned in could leave comments or email me (which you still can) at silvestri@siadvance.com. <\/p>\n

\"\"Can’t bake? A professionally made pie from Mother Mousse in Travis might be a good option.Pamela SilvestriHoliday Emergencies: Cookie Crisis at Midnight<\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m a decent baker, although it is totally not my strong suit. One year, a reader reached out near midnight with a cookie crisis: her Spritz cookie press had broken. I thought, \u201cOMG\u2014a true food emergency!\u201d Cortisol pumped. Determined to help, I jumped in. I\u2019d never used a cookie press in my life, but even pre-children I knew my way around plastic wrap and zippered bags. Pulling from the practical food universe, I suggested rolling the dough into a log and slicing it into pucks. A few days later, she emailed to say it worked. We still keep in touch.<\/p>\n

Those moments gave me enormous empathy for colleagues navigating the chaos of early blog culture: the early days of bots, quirky screen names, plus my comment-section regulars and\/or snarkers like Maestro, IDineYouEat, PlatoonWife, SIWatcher, PizzaKing, BagelQueen, and SIRoadkill.<\/p>\n

\"CranberryCranberry jelly can be eased out of the can to show off the ribbings of the can, if one so desires \u2014 tap, tap.<\/p>\n

And that brings me back to my own table traditions\u2014Norman Rockwell-style in East Brunswick, New Jersey, complete with turkey, dry humor, and a few culinary curiosities.<\/p>\n

At Aunt Grace and Uncle Wes\u2019s house, there was no lasagna at the Swedish-Irish feast\u2014just turkey with dry humor to match. A few microwaved marshmallow experiments rounded out the menu. Uncle Wes\u2019s grace was short and sweet: \u201cTweet tweet. Thanks for the meat. Yay, God!\u201d My grandmother\u2019s prized dish was Mold\u2014fruit and marshmallows suspended in a shimmering Jell-O ring. I think that\u2019s a Depression-era thing, but not to be dismissed. And Aunt Grace\u2019s elevated cranberry sauce? A perfect cylinder of ribbed Ocean Spray eased from a can onto a plate with a few gentle taps of a knife.<\/p>\n

One year, my Uncle Jim \u2014 who owned a restaurant in Manhattan \u2014 managed to insult Aunt Grace with what sounded like a compliment: \u201cWow, Aunt Grace, the turkey is good this year.\u201d She was as offended as my father was by Uncle Wes\u2019s jokes about Albert Shanker and the UFT \u2014 jabs not taken lightly by the rank-and-file \u201cBored of Ed\u201d teachers like my Dad.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, plenty of love around a bountiful table, and the kind of holiday memories you can laugh about now and cherish forever.<\/p>\n

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