Talking Turkey

Indeed the calendar has rolled through yet another year and here we are again concocting menus and shopping lists to please those we will gather around our table.  Once again, the neighborhood flock of wild turkeys has taken a vacation to parts unknown on the “out of sight, out of mind” principle.  The last of the pumpkins are ready to be roasted for pie fillings, cakes, muffins, puddings and other goodies.

Whether it’s hindsight or experience, it is nice to know that, at this point, you’ve already ironed out most of the wrinkles in your Thanksgiving preparations.  You are no longer prone to such mishaps as forgetting to take the giblets out of the bird before you stuff it; nor are you likely to have left too many tasks for the day of.  On the other hand, you’ve lost the potential new material for those “Oh, do your remember the time that.........” stories.  Like the one where the timing of a recipe was so off kilter that your hungry family and guests had to make do with the pre-dinner drinks a bit too long.  Or the Thanksgiving when the turkey was set to become room temperature in the laundry room out of the way and the dog had a pre-dinner taste.  It’s those stories that live in family lore long beyond anyone’s actual memory of the event.  No matter how many times they’ve been heard, they must be repeated.  Funny man Johnny Carson once quipped that “Thanksgiving was an emotional holiday in which people traveled thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year.  Then they discover that once a year was way too often."  What he didn’t say, was that no matter the differences or the difficulties, they would all do it again the following year.

Still, it’s good to review a few elements, make a couple of notes and find something new to try: combining tried, true, changed and new  In that spirit, we are offering a Roast Turkey with Stuffing for today’s recipe along with a list of Collected Thanksgiving Hints that we’ve found helpful (see below the Roast Turkey recipe).  Don’t forget to take a look at our website  for some old favorite Thanksgiving recipes, including Farro Stuffing, Roasted Roots, Pumpkin Maple Pie, Cranberry Sauce with Vanilla Bean and Cardamom and Stuffed Pumpkin.