Counting down - 4........

Have you ever thought about your relationship with your Thanksgiving turkey? No, I don't mean your husband, if that's who came to mind! Back in Kentucky, we knew several guys who were avid hunters and would go turkey hunting during open season. In fact, Bob was telling me this morning, one friend who was the manager of the wildlife management area in our county would bring wild turkeys from Missouri to our wildlife area. It was an annual routine for these guys to head out during open season and do their manly thing hunting wild turkeys.

At one time, we did kill some of our old chicken hens, pluck the feathers and cook them but I've never had to put up a wild turkey and prepare it for a meal, and I thank Bob for not ever expecting me to do that job because after doing the job on the chickens, I would put a stop to doing a turkey. So gross! I guess the Pilgrims wives didn't have a choice and they were probably pretty happy to have a turkey to roast, oh, I guess they had to put the turkey on skewers over the open fired or in the fireplace somehow since they didn't have a cast iron roaster and an oven. Gads zooks, those were probably tough birds, no wonder they had wooden teeth in those early years of the settlers.
I'm grateful for the farmers who have raised the tame turkeys because I am sure the meat is 100% more tender than those wild turkeys - not to be confused with Wild Turkey Bourbon which can be drank with the Thanksgiving dinner, but has no relation to the actual wild turkey bird except the Wild Turkey Bourbon might be a good marinade - you think?

I complained in my previous posts of my difficulty to accomplish a nice tasty tender turkey the past couple of years so I am resorting to a recipe from Alton Brown on Food Network. I tried this recipe many years ago and it resulted in the best tasting turkey I'd ever made. It does require marinating over night in a large bucket. In previous years, our desert temperatures were warmer than we are having this year, so I've lucked out and can put the bucket with the marinate and some ice and the turkey of course, out in the garage and I can be confident the temp will be at a safe level. I did receive a tip from another grandma blogger who says she uses a needle to inject the marinate into the turkey and it is successful for her - that does sound like a good idea too - Emerill Lagasse was injecting his turkey too. Something to keep in mind for another time.

I have one more trip to the grocery tomorrow to pick up last minute stuff like the french bread which I use for the dressing and some herbs which I may not have on hand for the marinade. Not too big of a deal this year and not as much food. Our grocery store was having lots of sales of two for one things so we lucked out and got some nice savings which I am sure we all appreciate right now.

We will be one less person at our table this year - Tom who is at Camp Taji, Iraq. I've asked him what they will be doing and he said there were a couple things planned. When we had flown to Germany when Brian was in the hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, after his accident, we were there through Thanksgiving and we ate in the hospital cafeteria with the troops. The food was delicious but that was an unforgettable experience. Brian was in intensive care.

Tom says they have a nice chow hall at the base and the food is good. Tom wouldn't complain though and never says anything negative. The only thing he has told me is to stop sending candy. He works out every day and tries to keep perfectly fit. We really will miss him at our dinner table this year. We have next year to look forward to having him with us.