Turkey Time Thanksgiving Trivia

By Terry Kaufman

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it is time once again to start preparing for the fall season. Besides dreaming of succulent turkey and the trimmings, this means readying holiday dinnerware, organizing cookware, polishing silver, and searching for new and exciting recipes and great holiday trivia! Liven up your Thanksgiving holiday with Turkey Trivia #1 - Turkey Facts, and Turkey Trivia #2 - Cranberry Facts.

Turkey Trivia #1 - Turkey Facts
Did you know...

• The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans who taught the Pilgrims how to survive off the environment.
• There are many thoughts how the turkey got its name. One such theory was that Christopher Columbus thought the bird looked like a peacock and since the East Indian word for peacock was “tuka,” this bird’s name transitioned from “tuka” to “turkey.” Makes sense. And on the other hand, when a turkey is scared, instead of saying “gobble, gobble,” it makes a “turk, turk, turk” sound. No brainer here. Take your choice.
• Wild turkeys occasionally spend the night up in a tree.
• A female turkey is called a hen while the male is called a tom.
• A hen does not say gobble, gobble. Instead, they say click, click. That must be some sound fest when both sexes are simultaneously striving for attention.
• A mature turkey has approximately 3,500 feathers.
• Wild turkeys can run 25 miles per hour and fly up to 55 miles per hour. However, commercially raised turkeys cannot run at all, or fly.
• The heaviest turkey ever weighed toppled the scales at 86 pounds.
• A turkey can have a heart attack if it becomes overly startled; turkeys living near an area where the sound barrier was broken dropped dead from the shock.
• Turkeys have a fantastic sense of hearing but have no external ears. Hmm! Are the ear holes hiding somewhere under those 3,500 feathers? Only the turkey knows for sure but he is not telling.

• The Pilgrims called today’s cranberry a “craneberry” because its blossoms looked like the head and bill of a Sandhill crane.
• Cranberries were carried aboard American whaler and mariner sea crossings in an attempt to prevent scurvy.
• Many people believe cranberries live on water alone, but fascinatingly enough, they are grown on vines in bogs originally created by glacial deposits. A fence is installed around the entire growing area of a bog, in an attempt to prevent the cranberries from drifting away. They are covered with a layer of sand which acts like a blanket. Cranberries can survive only in these stringent conditions.
• If undamaged, a cranberry vine can survive more than 150 years.
• If you drop a load of cranberries on a declining slope, the firmest and freshest berries can bounce as high as 4 inches while going downhill. Soft and bruised berries will not bounce, therefore separating themselves from the quality fruit.
• Fruit nibblers beware! Raw cranberries are sour and bitter. Be sure to stir in some sort of sweetener; mixing in sugar or honey should help considerably.
• As well as bouncing, cranberries can float using the same internal air pockets that help propel ripe cranberries off the ground.

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