A Walk In The Woods
Posted at 6:03 AM on November 24, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(35 Comments)
Radio Heartland has tickets to give away to a concert this Sunday evening, November 28th, at the Cedar Cultural Center, featuring Cliff Eberhardt and Storyhill. We'll keep the portal open until 1pm on Wednesday afternoon.
Enter the drawing.
Obey the rules.
Good luck.
Thanksgiving draws near.
If you happen to be hosting a holiday meal at your house, this is quite a busy time, but you often hear on food shows that there are many parts of the feast that can be made ready well in advance of the Big Day.
It reminds me of a conversation I had with our living and loving correspondent, B. Marty Barry, a few Thanksgivings ago.
Here's a transcript:
BMB: Thank you and good morning and Happy Thanksgiving to all the listeners out there.Dc: Not a lot of people know this about you, but in your spare time when you're not empathizing, you're a wonderful cook.
BMB: I have a few specialties.
Dc: I wonder if you have any tips for preparing the bird.
BMB: Preparing the bird? It's a little late for that. When I prepare a bird for Thanksgiving, I like to start about 6 months in advance.
Dc: That's half a year.
BMB: That's about how long it takes if you do it right.
Dc: So six months before ... that would be sometime in June, you go to the supermarket?
BMB: Oh, no. Not the supermarket. Don't go there. It's rather frightening there and really unnecessary.
Dc: So where do you start?
BMB: I would start at home. Maybe with just a long walk. You don't even have to SAY anything. Just go for a walk and enjoy the summer air.
Dc: We're talking here about cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving.
BMB: Right. Preparing the bird.
Dc: Right.
BMB: So you go for this walk and if the moment feels right you turn to the bird and you say "Everything that lives eventually dies and it nourishes the Earth." And then just leave it at that.Dc: Oh! You're really talking about preparing the bird. Emotionally.
BMB: In the fall when the leaves start to turn you can start saying things like ... "Life is like a merry go round. For someone to be able to get on, someone else has to get off."
Some turkeys pick it up faster than others.
You might also want to start playing little games with the ax.
Chop up some earthworms together. It doesn't seem to hurt them at all, and a turkey can get some ideas from that.Dc: And this works?
BMB: Oh, by mid-November, I've had them putting their heads on the block and yelling at me to get it over with. That's the advantage of slow, steady preparation.
But if you're just thinking about it for the first time now, it's too late to start.Dc: So ... take a look at next year?
BMB: That's what I'd do. But be gentle and discreet.
It IS possible to say TOO MUCH.
B. Marty Barry, with advice for Thanksgiving. The Turkey in today's photo project courtesy of:
How do YOU prepare the bird?
Comments (35)
I've never tried Tofurkey, but it is starting to sound reeeeally good about now.
Actually, the bird prepared me.
I began the road to becoming vegetarian when I was five, starting what eventually became a long list of things I wouldn't eat. Started w/ lobsters and lambs, but when I was seven, and the turkey made it to the Thanksgiving table and the carving started and the drumsticks got pulled from the bird, that was it. No turkey for me from then on.
But I make a mean vegetarian stuffing!
Catherine -- Tofurkey isn't too bad (keeping in mind it's been many decades since I had the real thing to compare it to!). If you have gravy and potatoes and sweet potatoes and stuffing and cranberries, it's still a feast!
We prepare the bird by singing to it. Now we start a little later than B Marty but we are preparing it for a different transition. We wait until the turkey is brown and beautiful on the platter and surrounded by a colorful fruit garnish. We sing a song brought to us by one of the early guests at our orphans' Thanksgiving . It launches the bird with great dignity and goes like this.
My Turkey Tis of Thee
My turkey tis of thee. Sweet bird of cranberry of thee I sing. I love thy breast and wing, back leg and other thing. I love thy good stuffing. Oh luscious bird.!
Since everyone learned the tune in grade school, it is a rich chorus that propels the turkey towards the pools of gravy and pillows of mashed potatoes.
After dinner we go walking and sing Thanksgiving carols for the neighbors. Reprises of My Turkey Tis of Thee further honour our formerly feathered friend.
I encourage all of you in the Heartland to share the chorus with your dinner guests!
I'm vegetarian, so I never have to prepare a bird. My sister and I decided this year that our focus for Thanksgiving Day would be on running the Turkey Trot 5K and that we'd prepare our Thanksgiving dinner by clicking some links at the Byerly's website. ;-)
sherrilee, we often have cranberry and sweet potato quiche (a recipe from one of the anna thomas vegetarian cookbooks) as our main entree. its savory goodness is very fitting for the thanksgiving table.
I can't hear Radio Heartland on my HD radio or on my computer this morning. Is it just me?
i still remember the Genway turkeys that sat around all day watching football and eating. then, when it was time, they were sent out to shovel snow and bingo, bango - they were ready to prepare. what year was that, Dale? still tickles me
good morning, All!
Elinor -- sounds yummy. I have a couple of the Thomas cookbooks (way too many cookbooks at my house), so I'll take a look for the recipe!
My son sounds a lot like you, Sherilee. I'm a casual vegetarian myself, so I try to sit at the kid's table and indulge in the side dishes where I won't be noticed.
My mom thinks being a vegetarian is a "kooky idea" and we will collapse from protein deprivation if we indulge in it.
Gotta try that quiche recipe!
Deb, I am getting RH just fine on the HD radio.
Deb - i'm getting RH streaming - hope by now you've found the trouble.
Good morning RH!
Dale - your fun entry is the kind of journalism that empowers the turkey (spared or slaughtered) in all of us.
As for me and my house, we will serve the bird.
I'm not a vegetarian, but both of my daughters and all of the people in their families are also. We will have quiche for thanksgiving with some of the more traditional side dishes such as cranberries, but no stuffing. We tried tofurky and it was okay, but not as good as we had hoped.
Do you know what turkeys are grateful for? Vegetarians, of course. I like to eat turkey myself. I believe in animal husbandry, and would like to try one of the heirloom turkeys that are now available. Most of the turkey available in the super markets are not any thing like these old breeds of turkeys that can fly and roost in trees.
In my childhood we "prepared" the turkey the same way we prepared all of the chickens, and the pig, and the beef . . .
Since I do not fit in this crowd of "mean" vegetarians today, I am disguising my name.
Deb--I can get RH on computer, but it keeps cutting out and I have to go back and reboot.That was happening yesterday p.m., too.
P.S. As many a person has pointed out over time "prepearing" your own meat gives you much more appreciation for where the meat came from.
The sassy thing to say is that I prepare the bird by emailing to see if she's hosting again this year...(that "bird" being my aunt, who, so she says, likes to host Thanksgiving). Miss Manners I'm sure would not approve of me essentially inviting myself, but since tradition holds that Thanksgiving is in Brainerd, I feel a little less guilty about it. And I always bring *something* to add to the feast (though not the bird).
Dale, it does look like that guy in the picture has made a good effort to follow B Marty's advice and has found a very nice path to walk down with the turkey.
Cly de Terre Bleu, you don't need to disguise your name. I think vegetarians are generally very tolerant of animal "killers" like you.
Beth-Ann, we have an orphans' dinner also, this coming saturday, for those not traveling or those returned from travels. we try to make it as local as possible so we always have lots of veggies from this past year's garden. we'll have chickens this year, because my neighbors don't raise turkeys. the sides are the big deal as is the dessert - always a flan of some kind. we have the "flipping of the flan" ceremony late in the afternoon after we've eaten, talked, walked and imbibed a bit. last year i made a cajeta flan that was absolutely to die for (eggs from our chickens, milk from the goats, cajeta made from goats' milk). this year another neighbor has cream from her Jersey cows, so that will be in there somewhere also - maybe atop the carrot pie........
Good Morning Dale,
Not ignoring the blog but, I would like to request a birthday song for my dear husband, Tom. Would you please play The Beatles I Will tomorrow, 11/25, sometime between 6:30 & 7:00?
Thank you,
Kathy
Greetings! "Preparing" the bird -- that's way too funny, Dale! I thought you were going to share your turkey preparation secrets. I don't host the Thanksgiving feast, so when I do prepare the bird, I always have to look online to remember how to do it.
Haul the frozen lug home from the store, tuck it into the fridge to relax and thaw, then remove its inner burdens that cause problems, oil and massage the stiff muscles and skin, put it into a special sauna-like enclosure to assure perfect temperature.
Only then can the golden bird rise like the phoenix to grace our table and provide sustenance. I was once a vegetarian myself, but my boys would riot if there wasn't meat in the house.
Jim, in fact, I don't concern myself with others' diets at all. ;-)
My sister, my daughter, and I will be doing the turkey day 5 k. Not quite the same as walking with a bird, but a bird is symbolically involved.
Jim: I think a herloom turkey would be what I had as a child, being a heirloom myself. Not a lot of white meat; the dryness I remember my be attributable to the cook; not everyone had a mother who was a great cook. We did know we would not get ptomaine.
Barb: cool. That's my kind of community.
My wife and I are alone Thursday, as we often are on such holidays, being PP's. Everyone always feels sorry for us being alone. They must thing one or both of us is very bad company. But we have developed a tradition of going to a movie. Dale, this year it will be in honor of your blog--partly, well a tiny bit--"Where the Wild Things Are."
Kathy,
Yes I will. Thanks for the request!
"I Will" by the Beatles for Tom, tomorrow morning. FYI, our 6 o'clock hour is no longer repeated at 11. Instead, the 7 o'clock hour plays back at 11, the 8 o'clock hour at noon.
But if the space between 6:30 and 7 is the best place for Tom to hear it, there the song will be!
Cly de Terre Bleu,
Sorry to hear you have nowhere to go on Thanksgiving. What's a PP? People Person?
It might not be that you are seen as "bad company". Maybe people assume you're already booked somwhere else - like all the best acts.
If you're looking for a different sort of movie theater to see "Where The Wild Things Are", let me suggest my favorite spot - the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. If it's at all within range for you, it's worth it to see this jewel of an old theater. Showtime for "Wild Things" on Thursday - 4:40 pm.
Nice to hear from B. Marty, who I've heard myself quote from time to time.
One year when we had vegetarians coming for T'g, the garden also produced a huge carrot (maybe 4 inches in diameter), which we roasted and carved just like you would a turkey. Roast Carrot -- it was a hit...
Love the song, Anna, we may just have to do that this year. And Barb, my mouth is watering!
Cl yde, I should probably know, but what are PP's?
Off topic: when you go to the main Trial Balloon page, scroll down through the last several days' "photos". If a person were logging on for the first time, I think it would give one pause! :)
We brine our turkey. My Thanksgiving dinner is expanding out of control, as my children and husband have made requests for various dishes that don't necessarily go together. I was planning on having two dinners-one on Thursday and one on Saturday, but travel plans changed, and now people who were dining on Saturday are dining on Thursday, and I have to change the menu accordingly. I plan to take Monday off to collapse.
Thanks for the tip, Dale. That is a great old theater, so old I did not know it was still there. My wife and I went there every now and then way back when. But Terre Bleu, and do not tell the vegetarians this, is for the Sioux for Blue Earth, or Mankato.
PP is a generation up from PK, preacher's parents.
You just played Spoon River. Thanks. Love that song and it always reminds me of one of the best poems in that book. "Lucinda Matlock," about E. L. Masters grandmother. I do not know the state of copyright on the book/poem or fair use of the Website, so I will post the link for all to read in memory of tough old bird women, like my mother and mother-in-law.
http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Edgar-Lee-Masters/15797
Query: I caught the RH Saturday show rebroadcast last evening at 6:00, but had missed the first hour. Also got Thistle and Shamrock at 5 pm instead of 6:00. Is everyone else getting these at 6:00 as scheduled?
Like, Barbara, I noticed that the same shows that she mentioned came on at 5 pm instead of 6 pm as they are listed.
Thanks for the All Collision All Explosion song. Bought my HD radio after the last Morning Show and have never regretted it, but now I truly know it was all worth it.
I think you can relax, Cly. Sounds like a pretty tame bunch of vegetarians.
Like Jim, I support animal husbandry, but you can't convince me that a confinement operation fits that description.
That said, I think everybody should get to decide what is on their own plate and enjoy it without preaching or nagging.
Barb, I envy you your local sources. The St Paul Farmer's Market does a pretty good job for us, and we learned last year to stock up now, if we want to be eating local by Lent.
Just a reminder that you can get local, grass fed meats, min. processed dairy, et al. by membership at the Traditional Foods MN Warehouse in S. Mpls., though I believe they are out of turkeys.
http://web.me.com/willwinter/traditionalfoodsmn.mac.com/Welcome.html
Preparing a turkey for dinner? It's true...it is a LOT of work, even above the grief counseling. First, the turkey needs to be soaked in a tub of warm water, massaged and kneaded to get the meat to relax. Next, the turkey needs to be stuffed properly. Sometimes a tie is appropriate to make sure all of the stuffings do not spill out. Next, there is the correct table settings and manners. Now, it's difficult to teach a turkey to use silverware to start with, let alone expect the bird to recognize the nuances of the correct fork to use for salad versus dinner versus desert. But with proper training, fortitude, and the implication of a hot, open, and waiting oven, you'd be surprised at how quickly they catch on.
Thanks for the timing question, Barbara and Jim.
We discovered that JASPER had a problem playing back hour 2 of the Dale Connelly Show - it simply didn't happen. That bumped the whole schedule back one hour - a super standard time configuration. That's why Thistle and Shamrock and the Radio Heartland show started at 5 rather than 6.
Bucky, the JASPER whisperer, has made an adjustment, and all should work properly today!
Thanks for checking, Dale. I particularly enjoyed the Chuck Suchy interview along with his music.
I'll correct myself -- there are still turkeys at the warehouse...
The glitch with Thistle and Shamrock reminded me that I was very happy to see RH’s new programs mentioned in a sidebar in this month’s MInnesota Monthly, along with a nice reminder from Dale that the pledging of the RH listeners helped bring them to the schedule.
i missed the show this morning but i got to listen to a bit of it on the replay after i got back from an early morning commitment that took me a way from the computer. it may be time to put one in the car ( is there a roady for the hd channels like xm?)
i was surprised ( but ot real surprised) to see the high number of vegies among this blog group. a bunch of old hippies this group. i have been a veggie for 40 years and have never had any problem eating the salad, wild rice, asperagus with hollandaise, sweet potatoes, green bean cassarole, frozen fruit salad cranberry/ orange something or other and pumpkin pie. i usually whip up a veggie gravy for the mashed potatoes and a meatless stuffing in a bread pan that pretty much leaves me very full.
i am the turkey preparer for the meateaters in the family and the ritual is one of my favorites of the year. those three meals, thanksgiving christmas and easter are nice
i will absolutely look up the cranberry sweetpotato quiche. sounds like a vodka ameretto one kidna takes the edge off the other.
happy holidays all
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