We chose the fattest one. She should have been on the plate last year, but my soft-hearted husband argued her case and she got a reprieve for her egg laying skills. She may be a bit tough a year after her 'best before' date, so I'm going to hang her in the chiller for a few extra days to relax the meat.
Her friend, who is not on the menu, is showing off as I take the Thanksgiving hen away -
Who knew turkeys could be such jerks?
Now, I'm off to raid the manor house orchard for windfall apples, enough for a pie and a cake. Then the dogs and I will head to the woods and see if there are a few chestnuts we can collect to make stuffing.
Believe it or not, here in the sub-arctic, we have a neighbor turkey tom who is, in fact, a real jerk. He chased me twice, trying to bite me all the while. So I hope your tom goes to ice camp for his bad attitude and poor manners.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that Trevor our stag turkey died about a month ago,seemingly as I was considering him as the main course at Thanksgiving. We bought him for £5 at the auctions in Spring so he may have been older than we knew. Trevor did have a great summer with ladies for company and a whole garden to range over in his retirement. My post lady is glad he's gone. I had to hang a shepherd's crook by the gate for her as a defensive weapon against Trevor's attentions. Bless her, she delivered the mail, swiped the old turkey out of the way, and hung the crook back up for the next day's delivery. Gotta love country folk!
Delete"Now, I'm off to raid the manor house orchard for windfall apples, enough for a pie and a cake. Then the dogs and I will head to the woods and see if there are a few chestnuts we can collect to make stuffing." The very best, and enviable description of Thanksgiving. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnon - A successful raid of the orchard earned me a bucketful of mixed variety apples, but the squirrels beat me to all the chestnuts so I'll have to take some out of the freezer from a year when my timing was better.
DeleteThe dogs enjoyed chasing pheasants while I hunted for chestnuts, but all we came back with from the woods was barbed wire cuts on Pip's nose. Just superficial wounds - definitely something for which I'm grateful!
Alas, I will be buying our bird at the market tomorrow-we prefer an anonymous status. Love the post lady story. I remember a few years ago I visited a friend and had to scavenge a roll of wrapping paper from the back of my car to ward off the overly-friendly goats. A good bonk on the horns does it every time. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a lovely thanksgiving meal. Home grown veggies too?
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