Sam had his food day planned from early morning to just before he arrived home from his factory. From then on Rose called the shots and war
On this specific holiday Rose presented a turkey. Sam hated turkey and to that day no one had any idea why because he loved chicken. “What is a turkey Sam but a big chicken?” she cried but to no avail. We all loved turkey and suspected her fraud but kept quiet because who wanted to start trouble?
It all began in 1950 when I was old enough to know that chickens didn’t weigh twenty pounds. Aunt Esther and her brood arrived for dinner that snowy New Year’s Eve. The table was set as we all waited for what we thought was our usual holiday fare, roast chicken.
Rose pranced out of the kitchen with a huge bird on a platter surrounded by roasted vegetables. Sam looked suspicious as he rose from his chair, shaking his head and we knew it was trouble.
Before he could open his mouth, Rose recounted her visit to a new butcher in Brooklyn who knew another man in New Jersey who raised special chickens fed on a secret diet that no one knew because if they did it wouldn’t be a secret and then the man in New Jersey wouldn’t have such a profitable business. With this special diet the bird got big and had a fabulous taste that everyone loved.
Sam eyed the bird up and down. “So this is a big chicken. If it’s so fabulous maybe we should go into business. Why
Everyone loved Sam so why start trouble?