Happy Thanksgiving From New Haven County Connecticut & A Visit to Gozzi's Turkey Farm

When I was growing up in the Philippines we were one of the rare families who celebrated Thanksgiving.

That's me eating a big turkey leg. Lola Da is walking to the kitchen.

My Dad was a foodie before the word was popularized and when I was a kid we would have a yearly turkey during our celebration. Thanksgiving was more of a food festivity and a time to give thanks for us rather than the historical remembrance of the pilgrims coming to America.

As a family we would love to sit down around our turkey and celebrate a fine meal and give thanks. The turkey was always perfectly cooked by Lola Da, our family’s cook. She would stuff the turkey with a chestnut based stuffing and her roasted bird would be so juicy because of her constant basting in butter.

At the end she would make the most delicious gravy with the drippings and the innards like the gizzards, liver and other unwanted turkey parts.

Today I live in Connecticut. Thanksgiving is a big holiday tradition here since it is New England and this is where the first pilgrim settlers landed. This is the land where Thanksgiving’s roots began.

I am married to an American who has allowed me to appreciate Thanksgiving as a local.

To commemorate Thanksgiving this year we decided to visit Gozzi Farms in Guilford, CT. They are known for selling the freshest turkeys and also for their novelty Easter egg colored turkey petting zoo. Be careful because the turkeys will peck you if you are too close!

The farm has been around since the 1950s and they will not divulge how their turkeys get the fun colors. Some say it’s because of the feed that is given to these noble birds, but others say they are dyed.