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Preschoolers share their thoughts on holiday dinner

Is the kitchen the closest foreign land you know? Can the thought of preparing a holiday meal for yourself as well as family and friends send you into hiding?

Never fear, the pre-kindergarten class from Kola-T Care Center in Liberty has sage advice for Thanksgiving dinner.

The first suggestion is where to get a turkey. A majority of the students favored the farm and field approach to finding one at the grocery store.

As for the size of the turkey, opinion was more varied.

“It needs to be between 20 and 30 pounds,” Clay Breiner definitively said.

A 10-pound turkey was more to Addison Carrillo’s liking.

Kiefer Bratcher, who must be a fan of leftovers, called for a 52-pound bird, while Jacob Stockard thought a 1-pound turkey would suffice.

As for what should go on the turkey before it’s placed in the oven, the future chefs weren’t about to be constrained by simple salt and pepper.

“It should have chocolate frosting all over it,” Carson Dearing said.

Jacob liked the idea of applying a nice layer of macaroni and cheese, and Megan Hinnenkamp thought the turkey should be covered in pepperoni. Kiefer favored throwing in a few hot dogs.

The next step, of course, comes in the oven.

Luci Diaz suggested leaving it in for five hours while Teegan Geinosky said it should only be left in for five minutes.

Kiefer, going for just a light browning, said it should be in for a minute, while Addison, seeking a well-done turkey, said six days.

The range of temperature a turkey should be cooked went from Ayden Wald’s idea of 40 degrees to Karl Knaak’s call for 1,000 degrees.

Put that together with six days in the oven, and it’s clear that pop-up timers might not be needed.

As for what should be served with the turkey, the ideas ranged from the traditional to the enlightened.

Ayden said there should be blueberry pie for dessert, while others lobbied for large pumpkin pies. Jacob said he would like to have chocolate ice cream. There was also a suggestion for ketchup, lots of ketchup.

Luci wanted chicken soup.

In keeping with the theme of a group effort, suggestions were also forthcoming for what should go in a salad.

Landon Tuso said French dressing while Teegan preferred ranch. Ayden recommended strawberries and bananas for the salad.

There were also calls for cherries and tomatoes and, of course, macaroni and cheese.

One can only wonder what their ideas would be for a New Year’s Eve buffet.

Senior writer Mark Johnson can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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