How Do You Cook A Thanksgiving Turkey? Interviews with preschoolers

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

NP : I don’t know my mom and dad making a turkey, my mom and dad make a chicken.  They make a chicken for me.  

Tell me about how they make the turkey?  I don’t know. 

Are they going to do cooking for Thanksgiving?  Yeah.  My daddy’s going to buy a rice cake at my house. 

Will you have anything else for Thanksgiving, or is that all?  That’s all.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

AKP: I don’t know how to make one. 

How do you think they make one?  I have no idea. 

Where do they put it to cook it?  In the oven. 

How long for?  I don’t know. 

What are you going to eat for Thanksgiving with your turkey?  I don’t know.  What’s really good that I like is cranberry sauce.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

LM: Um, just kill it, and then cook it. 

Is that what you’re going to do?  I don’t like it, but that’s what you have to do, my daddy said.

So do you have a turkey?  My mommy just bought one. 

Alive?  No.  Some other people killed it and brought it to the store.   
Where does mommy put it to cook it?  In the oven. 

How long does she put it in the oven?  Maybe about 11 minutes.  I don’t know, maybe about 11.  I forgot.  Maybe it’s 11.  I think I’ll tell my mommy tomorrow, and then I’ll know.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

BM: Get a bone.  Get a turkey.  Then cook it. 

How should they cook it?  Uh, in the oven.

How hot?  Really hot. 

How long for?  How long do they cook it?  Twenty.  Twenty minutes. 

What do you do after that?  Eat it. 

Are you having anything else with your turkey?  Pumpkin pie. 

Anything else?  No.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

ES: They do cookies. 

Cookies? And I have a carrot.  And…chocolate to make the eyeballs.

How do they make the turkey?  The nose is the carrot, the cookie is the head…

And the chocolate is the eyeballs?  Yeah.

What else do you eat for Thanksgiving?  Noodles! 

So you have noodles and a cookie turkey?  And …like cookies.  I like cookies with them. Noodles and cookies.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

EF: I don’t know.

How do you think they cook a turkey?  I don’t know.  Do you know how?

I do.  Tell me. 

Well, where do you think we put the turkey to cook it?  Do we cut it? 

Yes.  Do we take the guts out? 

Yes.  What else do you think you have to do?  Cook it.

What else?  What do you do when it’s all cooked?  Eat it. 

What else do you eat for Thanksgiving?  What about forks or spoons. 

Do you eat those?  No, we just pick the food up. 

What’s your favorite food to eat for Thanksgiving?  Thanksgiving cookies.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?  Who cooks the turkey for Thanksgiving? 

RB: Daddy. 

How does he cook it?  Maybe in pie.

Have you seen him make it in a pie? Uh-huh.

How does he put it in a pie?  Like I can help him, I can help. 

How do you help?  Make lemons in there. 

Where does he put it to cook? In the oven, in the oven so it can be cooling down.

Then what happens after that?  Um, um, and put a candle on it. 

Do you sing a song then?  Um, happy birthday.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

ZD: Yes ma’am.  Cook them, cook them in the oven.

Then what happens?  Eating time.

How long do you have to cook it?  So you can eat it.  So you could watch t.v. 

Do you do anything else for cooking a turkey?  Cooking a turkey and eating food, and then go to school, and go to bed.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

CB:  Chicken.   Chicken?  Um-huh.   

Do you eat a chicken for Thanksgiving?  Yes, sometimes.  How do they cook it?  With chicken nuggets. 

What else do you eat for Thanksgiving?  Pizza. 

What kind of pizza?  Pizza. 

Who does the cooking at your house for Thanksgiving?  Daddy and Mommy. 

Do you want to tell me anything else about Thanksgiving?  Food.  Bye-bye.

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

JP: You can make sausages with it.  Or you can make bologna with it.  You can make salami.  You can make some pumpkin in it.

Who cooks the pumpkin at your house? Mommy and Daddy. 

How do they cook the turkey?  They cook it with meat.  Then they put the salami in, then they put the sausage, then the turkey, then the meat. 

Where do they put it in?  They put it in the oven to cook. 

How long do they cook it?  They cook it for me five minutes. 

What happens next?  You can celebrate it, and then when all your friends come, you can eat them. 

How do your Mommy and Daddy cook a Thanksgiving turkey at your house?

MC: Salt.  Pepper.  You get you have to have some, some spinach.  Um, um, you could get some cookies. 

Who’s going to cook the turkey?  Use the oven.  Get all the ingredients. 

How hot does he make the oven? She showed her fingers an inch apart, then 3 inches apart. 

How long does it go in the oven?  Ten minutes.

Then what happens?  Turkey.  Eat it.