Home > Table Talk > Archives > 2007 > November > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USIt’s time to talk turkey
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For Thanksgiving this year, I’m buying a turkey from a local farm, one that’s raised on pasture. I ordered the turkey last summer, before the farmer got his poults in. I’m looking forward to preparing it, and learning more about the difference in how a turkey that walks around on grass all days tastes, compared to one raised in confined quarters and given feed, as the traditional Thanksgiving centerpiece is.
Usually I make a last-minute run to the store, hoping to find a fresh bird that’s about the right size. (And they never are. They’re always 20 pounds or larger, if you wait until the day before Thanksgiving. And everything else is frozen.)
Grocery stores, of course, want us to start thinking about booking a turkey earlier. Whole Foods Market had a media tasting of its takeout menu on Nov. 8, complete with wine pairings. (Since I’d just faux-fried a turkey in a new infrared cooker from Char-Broil two days earlier, I passed up the chance for yet more turkey and missed the early feast.) Restaurants have been sending menus for a few weeks.
We’re still sorting through Halloween candy at my house, and except for ordering the turkey, haven’t thought about anything else related to Thanksgiving. What about you? When do you start putting together the holiday meal? Have you ever bought a special turkey, like a heritage breed? If so, was it worth the extra money?
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Comments
By Drew
November 9, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
I’m with you. I’ll never buy a regular grocery store turkey as long as I can help it - let the ignorant buy those. I’m buying the same thing you are Elizabeth, a turkey pasture raised on a farm.
By FCM
November 9, 2007 3:58 PM | Link to this
We start thinking Thanksgiving right at Halloween time….Logistics if not food:
Which house, who will be there, etc play a big part into the table.
For instance if its at my house then somebody volunteers to make Turkey….because I don’t like turkey….I make a pork roast. That I will provide anything that you expect unless you want it made like ‘so & so’ makes it. That’s because ‘so & so’ is usually invited and if its their signature dish, I ask them to bring it.
If it is at my Parents house then I know that other than showing up there is little Mom wants me to do until dinner is over (then she wants me to clean the kitchen that she hasn’t bothered cleaning all day).
If it’s at my brother’s, other than the Turkey, rolls, and mashed potatoes, you better volunteer to bring something or the harvest will be less than bountiful.
If it was at my inlaws (back when I was married) then you knew to stash any ‘beverages’ in the trunk of the car and partake when they were in bed. Also that any diets would be out the window because every side dish was a cassarole made with a stick of butter, velveeta, and ritz crackers or combos there of. Additionally you learned not to ask what to bring because she got offened.
Last, we look at who is new to the table….and try to make sure there is something that reminds me them of their own ‘home’ table…..for instance, one of those cassaroles from MIL table has become a staple at mine. Orginally made so my (then) husband would feel welcome at the table, my Mother loved it (though I knocked the 2 sticks of butter back to 1 and steamed the vegetable instead of boiled it).
Truthfully, I hate the whole Thanksgiving Feast thing. I would rather just sit around and talk and have ‘finger food’….for me the holiday is about the people who gather together not the food….but in my family—that’s sacreligious!
By Sue
November 16, 2007 1:41 PM | Link to this
I will be using the infrared cooker from Char-Broil for the first time for my turkey. I want to stuff it, but I can’t find any information about cooking one stuffed. Is there any reason I shouldn’t stuff it?
BTW, I am doing a fresh, organic, free range turkey which I have done the past several years.
Thanks for the information!