I like my food to be as natural as possible without artificial growth hormones. Since moving here to Northern Nevada, we have raised a lot of chickens and ducks for dinner, but a few years ago I mail-ordered two turkeys. A white Holland female we named Giblet (short for Thanksgiving) and a broad-breasted bronze male named Gravy (short for Christmas). I didn't want my sons to worry about the turkeys' future. Besides, my father used to tell us girls when we were little "don't play with your food."
I didn't mind the boys playing with the turkeys. Gravy loved to play hide and seek. When the boys would pop up from behind the sagebrush, he'd fan his tail feathers, his caruncle (the naturally reddish-pink flesh on his head and upper neck) would turn beet red as he let out a loud gobble. I don't know if there is a difference in intelligence between the two colors, but we always joked that Giblet only had a pea-size brain.
I always had to have the boys run out and close the hen house door when it rained, you know what they say? It's true, the turkeys look up when it rains and drown. Even my husband reminded me that when he was a young boy, the neighbor paid him $5 to herd his turkeys into their house anytime it rained.
When it was time to invite Giblet to dinner, she actually jumped up on the chopping block by herself. Gravy was a different story. You see, he had the extra four weeks to grow and boy did he grow - 55 pounds dressed out. He didn't fit in the five-gallon bucket for me to get him ready to pluck. Then I had to break his legs to get him to fit into the oven.
All of the relatives who came to dinner that year said he was so delicious, but don't tell a soul, I couldn't eat him. I don't think anyone noticed, but they all agreed he was the best turkey they'd ever had. If you never have raised a turkey in your back yard, you may want to consider it for next spring. It was a memorable experience. They are very interesting birds, and you know the tail feathers from the bronze are spectacular.
This year we will be traveling to my uncle's house in Livermore, Calif., for Thanksgiving. We are going a couple of days early to try and do some sightseeing in San Francisco. We hope to take the ferry to Alcatraz. If all goes as planned, you'll be hearing about it next week.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and be safe.
n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
