A Brief Tale of Two Thanksgivings

[drwex]

I have a gihugic Arisia-related post that I've been working on for a while but I also have some light things to say so let's try doing both, bwahahaha. Did I mention that the amount of typing and editing I'm doing has been hurting my wrist? Yeah, that's not troubling at all.

So OK, Thanksgiving. We went for the actual day with the relatives we have been going out with these past few years. Unfortunately, my aunt's condition has deteriorated to the point where going out to an elaborate meal would be more ordeal than pleasure so we planned to have Turkey Day with aunt/uncle at the facility she's living in. Found out that it's actually a lunchtime meal and knowing what the quality of food was likely to be I had a bright idea.

Y'see most turkey is white meat, which I find to be bland, uninteresting and often (despite gravy and cranberry sauce) too dry. I, and the family, prefer dark meat to the point where we'll pay silly amounts to get roasted turkey legs at places like King Richard's Faire. So I suggested to Pygment that she get a couple turkey legs and we could roast them in the evening when we got hungry again. She... um, yeah. Went to the butcher near her and got four entire legs.

That's FOURTEEN POUNDS of turkey leg. Yes, they're that big. She brined them and I put them up with some herbs (mostly dill and parsley thanks to MizA's garden) to marinate overnight. Throw that in the oven with some chopped up sweet potatoes, scallions, and a few more herbs. A-MAY-ZING, if I do say so myself. We've had three meals for three of us and we're not quite done with them yet, nor tired of leftovers as I usually get.

It doesn't entirely make up for how depressed I got seeing my aunt in such difficult shape - next month will be their 50th wedding anniversary - but it's rare that I like my own cooking this much.

Comments

[moechus]

We have always dealt with turkey being mostly white by having goose on Thanksgiving.

[drwex]

That's interesting. We've tried duck a couple times and it's tasty but not enough meat per unit effort generally.

[tamidon]

I did goose for Christmas one year, and found it was shy on meat for the size of the bird

[moechus]

Huh. We always found that we got enough meat out of it (figuring 1-1.5 lbs of bird per person). The other thing is that goose is a very greasy bird and requires a lot of draining while cooking (but too much draining and it winds up too dry).

[reedrover]

I'm sorry to read about your aunt. I hope that her spirits are still good.

And yum.

[drwex]

I think she is angry much of the time. Her ailment severely impedes her ability to speak and I think that's very frustrating.

Re: Comment Catcher: A Dollar a Question

[reedrover]

Oh dear. Yes, I could see that being a real problem.

My father suffered a lot of anomia towards the end, and while we tried to make light of it, we were all quite frustrated. It was particularly upsetting when he couldn't tell us what he needed.

[drwex]

Indeed. And it interacts badly with my growing deafness.

[gale_storm]

Fourteen pounds of turkey leg?

Fourteen. Pounds. Of turkey. Leg?!

If it includes thighs, I can understand. Okay, still awed!

[drwex]

Yes, it was thighs + drumsticks.

[gale_storm]

Okay! Still a goginormous snack, fit for Henry VIII!