Grilled turkey and 'food comas': 8 Wisconsin celebrities reveal their Thanksgiving traditions
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If you’ve wondered about the Thanksgiving tastes of some prominent Wisconsinites, here’s a glimpse into their own personal turkey day traditions.
Some of these eight celebrities have a solid food connection, others not so much. They range from award-winning cheesemaker Cesar Luis of Cesar’s Cheese, who routinely creates imaginative, elaborate meals from scratch, to comedian Charlie Berens, who’s been known to more or less follow his mom’s potato salad recipe using a buck knife.
In any case, all eight celebrities look forward to the Thanksgiving experience on Thursday along with the rest of us Americans. Perhaps not surprisingly, they all agreed on turkey as the main course, but no consensus was reached on pies.
And they love leftovers; the question about leftovers elicited the longest, most animated responses.
Our celebrities include:
Charlie Berens, a Wisconsin native, comedian, Emmy-winning journalist, actor, producer and creator of "The Manitowoc Minute," who responded by email.
Cesar Luis, owner of Cesar’s Cheese in Sheboygan Falls, who was born in mountainous Oaxaca in southern Mexico and crafts queso Oaxaca, mozzarella, queso fresco, cheddar, Gouda and fresh cheddar curds. Yes, in Wisconsin a cheesemaker can be considered a celebrity.
Amy E. Reichert, a lifelong Wisconsin resident, self-described awesome home cook and author of “The Coincidence of Coconut Cake,” plus four other novels all set in Wisconsin.
LeRoy Butler, former Green Bay Packer, inventor of the Lambeau Leap, motivational speaker, author, sports commentator, podcaster and cookbook author who owns nearly 2,000 pots and pans.
Brian Gotter, Emmy-winning meteorologist with WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) who was born in Fond du Lac, now a married dad of two. Gotter responded by email.
Nancy Stohs, former food, home and gardening editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who, in her last food column, urged people to “enjoy the gift of eating,” and “cook at home when you can.” Stohs is still cooking as a happily retired grandmother; she responded by email.
Toya Washington, broadcast journalist and longtime WISN-TV (Channel 12) news anchor who lives in Pewaukee with her husband, two daughters and Vizsla dog. Washington provided answers by email.
Zorba Paster, Madison-area family physician and co-host of Wisconsin Public Radio’s nationally syndicated healthy living show "Zorba Paster On Your Health." Dr. Paster's answers came via email.
RELATED: 3 Thanksgiving leftover ideas as good as (or better than) the main event
RELATED: Thanksgiving dinner: How do I roast a turkey?
For the Thanksgiving meal, is it traditional turkey or some alternate form of meat or nonmeat substance?
Berens: Whatever they’re cookin’, I’m eatin'. If I’m cooking, it wouldn’t matter either 'cause it would all taste burnt.
Luis: For us, it’s traditional turkey, but it’s going to be made in a wood-fire oven. … in the backyard on wheels … marinated with guajillo peppers.
Reichert: Definitely turkey, because I have to make gravy.
Butler: It’s traditional turkey for sure. That’s one thing everybody always agrees on. People like white and dark meat … so I’m just doing turkey.
Gotter: I grill a turkey every Thanksgiving. Yes, grill. The big bird is on the grill for about 3.5 hours and it is so smoky and tender … melts in your mouth.
Stohs: Definitely turkey, a whole bird. In recent years, a daughter and I have teamed up on a brined fresh turkey, coating the outside and under the skin with an herb-and-olive-oil mixture, an America’s Test Kitchen recipe. It’s quite tasty. I do have a semi-vegetarian daughter (she eats fish), but she’s been fine with filling up on sides and isn’t above occasionally eating some meat.
Washington: For sure the traditional turkey! The running joke when people ask "where do you get your turkey?" My answer is "the gas station in downtown Delafield." Daybreak Prime Meats and Deli is inside the Mobil station building, and Billy the Butcher is hands down the best. I live for the moment when I can deadpan that answer as they're chewing on a big bite of turkey.
Paster: We only eat turkey on Thanksgiving. We don’t believe in substitutes.
RELATED: Thanksgiving dinner: How do I roast a turkey?
What’s your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?
Berens: Asking everyone who their favorite politician is, then placing bets on the ensuing fights.
Luis: We get all together, my son, my daughter … at the table and we enjoy food.
Reichert: Hands down, my favorite part is stuffing, and I do stuff the bird. I double or triple my normal stuffing recipe because stuffing is a huge component of our Thanksgiving tradition. It’s very simple … pork sausage, ground beef and one of those bags of Brownberry stuffing cubes. I make my own turkey stock. There is no measurement. It kind of all melts together into deliciousness.
Butler: Ooooh. I guess making the sides is my favorite. The side dishes, to me, make any meal. And I make 32 sides … mac and cheese, of course, green beans, creamed corn … you got mushrooms, you got greens. I say every year I am going to cut down, but I don’t.
Gotter: My favorite part of the meal is that my wife goes all out with fall decorations for the house and table. It makes it feel so festive. Oh, and the smell of the food fills the air. Since most of our family lives in Florida now, it is usually just me, my wife and two kids enjoying all the incredible food my wife and daughter made. When our parents decide to brave the November chill, those Thanksgivings remind me of the big dinners when I was a kid.
Stohs: Admiring my plate once it’s filled, just before I dig in: a foodie painter’s palette, with dabs of half a dozen or more items. This much variety at one meal is a rare occurrence! And somehow, they all taste good together. My all-time favorite moment from a Thanksgiving dinner, however, was when my then-5-year-old granddaughter declared, “Grammy, this is, like, a feast!”
Washington: That's too difficult to answer. I love all of it and pay for all of it the next day. But one of the things I look most forward to is collard greens. I'm the only one in the family who likes them, so when I make them it's a decent amount that I can freeze in smaller portions and eat for months to come.
Paster: Gravy, but it has to be spectacular.
Are you personally cooking this year for Thanksgiving?
Berens: No. Burning Jello? Yes.
Luis: Yes. It’s gonna be a fresh turkey. I spend the whole day making that. A medium-sized bird, you get more flavor — 15 pounds, 16 pounds, you know. My wife, she likes to make the stuffing.
Reichert: Yes, I have been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 25 years now. I do the majority of the cooking.
Butler: Of course, I would not allow anybody else to be in my kitchen. That’s a no-no.
Gotter: I grill the turkey every year … that is my responsibility. My wife loves making all the sides and outdoes herself every year with keeping the traditional dishes and a few modifications to other dishes. My two kids are now having fun baking pies. … It creates a lot of laughs and a lifetime of jokes.
Stohs: I cook every year for Thanksgiving, regardless of who gathers together. That includes a turkey and all the sides that my husband and I love. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without them.
Washington: That's a really good question. … We haven't planned out that far yet.
Paster: Yes, part of it. The gravy. So the pressure is on, I suppose.
Cranberries: Thumbs up or down?
Berens: HUGE thumbs up.
Luis: No, no cranberries.
Reichert: Thumbs up.
Butler: Down.
Gotter: With Wisconsin being the cranberry capital of the world I have to be careful here … hahaha. They are not at the top of my feast list, but I always have some on my plate because my wife loves them and has a dish of them on the table. I do like the sweetness of them, but I need the room for the other delicious dishes.
Stohs: Thumbs up. I have a simple sauce I make from fresh berries, but a couple of the grown kids insist (for tradition’s sake) on the gelled stuff from the can, with its trademark ridges. It’s possible that what’s left of this version languishes in the fridge after everyone is gone …
Washington: Cooked from fresh cranberries … absolutely. The canned version is not allowed. I'm cran-bougie.
Paster: Two thumbs up.
RELATED: Packed with flavor: Wisconsin cranberries pair with sweet and savory at any meal
Pumpkin or pecan pie?
Behrens: Pumpkin.
Luis: We have a pie contest. Apple. Mixed berry. Blueberry … my kids really know what they are doing, they learned a lot of things from me.
Reichert: I kind of shake it up with pumpkin and apple dessert, but if you are going to make me choose, it’s going to be pumpkin.
Butler: Oh, pecan pie for sure. Well, I’d like to say sweet potato, but that’s not a choice.
Gotter: I love pumpkin pie. My wife is from the South and loves pecan pie … and she pronounces it pee-can.
Stohs: Pumpkin, which is my husband’s favorite pie of all time. I like to try different versions for fun, but he always opts for the classic, with double the spices. And the whipped cream is real, laced with raw sugar and vanilla.
Washington: To be honest, pie is where we get into the "food coma" zone at Thanksgiving. Pies are not safe in our house. To give perspective, rather than a cake for our rehearsal dinner, we did a pie bar. The next day, at the wedding, we had wedding cake AND a pie/dessert bar. We don't turn away pies … but if given the choice, it's sweet potato pie from Mr. Dye's Pies or a baked in a bag Elegant Farmer apple pie or rhubarb apple pie. Who am I kidding? It's all of the above.
Paster: Pecan pie.
How do you like your leftovers?
Berens: In my eggs the next morning.
Luis: The leftovers I am making the next day. I take all the meat and the bones. I try to make a turkey soup. I try to make enchiladas or tacos or both. That’s how I use the leftovers.
Reichert: My favorite use for leftovers is I make a leftover Thanksgiving sandwich with homemade English muffin bread that I have browned in bacon fat, then cranberries on one side, gravy on the other, then stuffing, bacon and turkey in the middle. It is amazing. It is the whole reason I love Thanksgiving so much, because I can make this sandwich.
Butler: Cover everything in Tupperware of course and I label it. They don’t want it in a microwave, so I heat it up for them. But I have a three-day window and everything must be gone after that. I tell people that and it makes them eat it all. Three days, that’s it.
Gotter: I love leftovers! The more the better. And I don't mind if they are cold, just as long as I can keep enjoying all those flavors. The best turkey leftover is my wife's annual spicy turkey chili … mouth-watering.
Stohs: We’re good for two post-holiday meals of leftovers reheated and eaten just as they were on Thanksgiving. After that, though, I’m inclined to make a turkey casserole or soup with the leftover meat. I don’t generally go crazy trying to transform leftover sides into something new, but I admire the creativity and lengths to which some cooks go.
Washington: Heat up a plate with all the sides the next day or two, then freeze the rest for nights when we don't have time to cook. On Sunday after Thanksgiving, I go full Minnesota and use the rest of the turkey to make wild rice soup.
Paster: In my mouth.
RELATED: Thanksgiving leftovers can be transformed for morning, noon and night (and dessert)
Jennifer Rude Klett is a Wisconsin freelance nonfiction writer and author of a new cookbook, “Home Cooking Comeback: Neighborly Advice & 40 Pleasing Recipes from the Farm Kitchen of a Midwestern Food Journalist.” Contact her at jrudeklett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Thanksgiving traditions of 8 Wisconsin celebrities: turkey, sides, pie
