Magical Turkey

A girl's gotta have leftovers.

This time last year, I remember opening the fridge and wondering how we ended up with no leftovers after Thanksgiving.  It had never happened before!  It is kind of sacrilegious in my family, to not have leftovers.

And so, my husband ran to the store to get the smallest turkey he could find, and I roasted my first bird, after Thanksgiving.

It was totally gross.  The innards were chilly and squishy, the skin kind of sticky and slippery at the same time.  I had seen it done every year, but had just never handled it myself.  It made me nauseated to handle a whole carcass and stuff its butt with herbs from the garden.


But then, something kind of magical happened. 

The turkey came out of the oven, roasted golden with a warm herbed aroma.  It lasted us many many meals.  We picked the last of the meat off the bones and I made a delicious bone broth for the first time, which gave us soups for many many meals.  The dog loved the little organ treats.  Nothing went to waste.


I tried a whole chicken next, and realized that my view of that pale wobbly carcass had totally changed.  It was no longer disgusting, it was nourishing for my family.  I shouldn't have waited until I was 31 to cook my first whole animal.  We've been cooking whole chickens ever since, and I almost never just buy the breasts anymore.


Here it is, the turkey that started it all.  

My first turkey.

I'm now heavily considering raising quail.  

If we are going to eat meat, and therefore be responsible for the life of the animal, I feel compelled to create no waste, so using the whole bird like this is satisfying.  And I would love to know that the animal had been raised under ideal conditions... though free-range organic meat is not exactly the cheapest option.  Raising quail would allow me to do this on a small scale.

Butchering freshly caught fish and crabs and geoduck (gooey duck) clams at the coast with my grandpa totally grossed me out at first, but after a few times it changed from disgust and remorse to thankfulness for the nourishment.  I am assuming butchering quail would be pretty similar.  Or it would shock me into becoming a vegetarian... they are so darn cute.

Was it ever difficult for you to cook a turkey?