Have you ever eaten goose for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? It was an old timey delicacy. Back in the day, many farmers raised ducks and geese. What about the wild Canadian geese we see on the Fountain City Pond in wintertime? I know someone who caught and roasted one, but that is another story. I am talking about the domesticated kind of geese.

My mother-in-law, Myrtle Lair McMurtrie, lived with us for a while back then. There are many stories there, too, but this one is about a goose. Magazines would feature a goose dinner around holiday time. However, they never displayed the goose dinner my mother-in-law wanted for Thanksgiving that year. Let me tell you about it.

The first problem we had was finding a goose dressed for dinner. You know, one without feathers or innards. None of the area meat markets carried one. We would have to do the next best thing; that is, find a farmer who raised geese and would sell us one. My mother-in-law found such a farmer and bought a live goose.

My husband killed the unfortunate fowl and we proceeded to dress it out. As I remember, we dry-picked the poor creature. Myrtle wanted to save the feathers and the down, but they were not clean enough for stuffing a pillow. We washed the undressed goose with soap and water and then my mother-in-law's plan began to take shape. Under her direction, I cut the goose in serving size pieces, like you would a stewing hen. We saved the giblets, too.

Back to the reason she wanted to do the bird this way. She never liked roast goose. It was too greasy, she said. Why not boil the parts in seasoned water to cover until tender, drain off the goose fat, then bread and fry like you would chicken. It wouldn't be so greasy then. That sounded like a good idea to me, but then what did I know. A new bride, with only the 1936 Detroit Times Cook Book for guidance, I would agree to about anything, food-wise, that is.

We put the goose over to boil early Thanksgiving morning. Not knowing how old the goose was, we would allow ample time to prepare it for dinner about 2 o'clock. That was a wise decision. It was barely tender in time. We skimmed off the goose fat and breaded the pieces in seasoned flour. My mother-in-law took over then. She heated lard in our cast iron skillet and fried the goose parts to a golden brown. It looked delicious. We all agreed she made a wise choice.

That is until we sat down to eat. It was awful. The meat was coarse and stringy and it was still greasy. The gravy was all right, but not great. Thank goodness we had a full table of Thanksgiving goodies to eat. That was the one and only time I have tried to eat a goose. Oh, I know, those Norman Rockwell covers on Saturday Evening Post made it look so tasty, but looks can be deceiving.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!