How to Cook a Turkey: Season with Oil, No Salt
Alasia Tamarato, 6, Asbury Park spreads her arms wide to show how big the turkey her family will eat on Thanksgiving will be.
By ANDREW CANGIANO
Kids really do say the darndest things.
First grade students in Melinda Wright-Swartzs class at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School in Asbury Park discussed this week how they would cook a Thanksgiving turkey.
You wash it first, you season it, and then you put it in the oven, said Amani Gilliam, 7.
You put some oil in it, suggested Zhaylisse Morales, 6.
Another student, Alasia Tamarato, 6, said one should put salt in the turkey, but added, I dont like salt. I taste it on my soup. It was nasty, real nasty.
When asked the size of the turkey her family will eat on Thanksgiving, Tamarato spread her arms as wide as the table at which she sat.
If you had a feast, it would be a big feast, so everyone can eat it, she said with a bright smile.
I think my whole familys going to come over, she said.
The children also explained what they eat on Thanksgiving. Many of them said they will eat traditional foods such as turkey, stuffing, and pecan pie.
Amani Gilliam, 7, said she eats corned beef on Thanksgiving. Destiny Foster, 6, said she eats chicken.
Brian Martinez, 6, said he eats lots of candy on Thanksgiving.
How does his family spend Thanksgiving? We just have a little party or something, he said.
Cake and coffee ice cream are what 6-year-old Santiige Portlock said he eats on turkey day. Portlock said his cousins come over to his house.
I got a lot of cousins, he said.
Jada Morris, 6, eats a little more healthy on Thanksgiving, as she consumes turkey, macaroni and cheese, and salad. She said she eats strawberry and chocolate ice cream for dessert.
Morris said her aunts and her cousins join her family on the national holiday.
Zhaylisse Morales, 6, said she likes to eat stuffing, turkey, macaroni, and butter pecan on Thanksgiving.
When asked if she would be having any visitors, she responded, My whole family. Im from Puerto Rico, she added.
For the record, The National Turkey Federation recommends roasting a turkey in the oven at 325 degrees fahrenheit until a meat thermometer indicates the internal temperature registers 180 degrees fahrenheit in the thigh and 170 degrees fahrenheit in the breast (www.eatturkey.com). Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
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