Food Basics

Gordon and the Big, Mean, Turkey

Does your family always have a turkey for Thanksgiving, or do you have a pre-holiday discussion, turkey vs. ham like we do?

I grew up in a family with a ham tradition. Every holiday, my mother would trot out a five or ten-pound (depending on the number of people) canned Rath ham. My husband’s family always had turkey, even on Easter.

We never had turkey or chicken, even on regular days. That’s because my parents and grandparents, with my aunt and uncle had a poultry farm in the Depression era, and so for many years, that was what there was to eat. “Chicken and green beans,” my dad used to say. “If you didn’t want that, you could have green beans and chicken.”

They did experiment with turkeys for a while at the Purlingbrook Poultry Farm. Turkeys however, are a different bag of feathers. While you’ve probably heard the story that they’re so stupid they can drown in the rain by looking up to see what’s coming out of the sky, they’re big critters when they still have all their parts, and territorial. They can be big trouble, especially when you’ve got an inquisitive toddler loose in the yard.

Turkeys aren’t like chickens, which pretty much eat and make a mess, and not much else. They’re not big enough to cause any serious trouble.

One summer afternoon, my grandmother looked up from her work in the house and realized little Gordon had wandered off again. He’s my second-eldest brother. Grandma kept an eye on the kids while my mother was either out back in the garden or tending the chickens. At that time, there were only the two boys, Larry and Gordon. After a brief survey of the house, Grandma went outside in search of the missing little boy, when she heard shrieks coming from the turkey pen.

She ran to investigate, and there was Gordon, in his diaper, cowering against a corner of the fence. Two or three turkeys, as tall or even taller, were approaching him, beaks at the ready, to dispatch this intruder. Grandma called to my aunt who happened by, and leapt into the fray, to save the terrified kid from a certain assault. Auntie Teen soon followed, to run interference. Despite some pecking and plenty of un-Grandma-like language, the two women managed to save my brother, who was retrieved unharmed.

It wasn’t long after that, the dinner menu changed to turkey for a while, and the Purlingbrook Poultry Farm returned to dedicated chicken-and-egg production. In later years, when I was old enough to start asking questions, like why we always had ham, my mother would say it was because Dad preferred ham, and Dad would mutter something about “big, mean birds.” Eventually I did get the whole story, and I could figure out why Dad wouldn’t want one of those things on his table.

Gordon, however, gleefully digs in to his roast turkey on Thanksgiving, as his wife comes from a turkey family, and he probably feels a bit of sweet revenge in any case.

Carnival of the Vanities #113

Number One Thirteen.

Why on earth is a foodie hosting this wordie event?

Because man does not live by bread alone. Yep, that's poor, but by golly, it's true. I'm one of those bloggers who wants everybody to meet my friends. I've got all these blogs and a bunch of different people reading different blogs. I figure it's about as cool as it can possibly be to present variety at its best!

Do we love blogs and bloggers? Oh, yes, we certainly do!

We've got just a list here; no theme or wry bon mots. Please go and read our buds; that's what this event is all about. Copied and pasted in order recieved. Thanks for your cooperation in this not-quite-stylish event; my dad died and I've got a funeral home appointment later today.

Letter to John Perry Barlow From A Pot-Smoking Deadhead Bush Supporter

Dick Cheney's Lesbian Daughter of Musician Jokes (the follow-up to Musician Jokes, Son of Musician Jokes, Bastard Child of Musician Jokes, and Test Tube Baby of Musician Jokes)

The Raving Atheist
Interview with Sam Harris "The Raving Atheist teams with three other godless bloggers in grilling author Sam Harris ("The End of Faith") about his position on mystical, but allegedly non-religious, spiritual experience."

Parableman
Affirmative Action VII: Sidebar on Reparations
This post interrupts a series on affirmative action to
consider an argument for reparations based on slavery from Bernard
Boxill but based entirely on Locekan principles.  The argument seems
to go through even on the assumptions of politically conservative and
moderate black thinkers such Thomas Sowell and John McWhorter, once a
couple of objections are dealt with, but the kind of reparations
required required by the argument need not be much more than many
people (including McWorter) already want to do on other grounds.

My blog is Coyote Blog  This week I am submitting this article: 
This article is about Meyer’s Law, which is a tool to help weed through conspiracy theories, which seems timely right now.

THE BIG PICTURE
Newest Liberal Argument: Religious Americans Are Like Islamofascists (And What to Do About It)

Watcher of Weasels: I'd like to submit the following post for your consideration

Looking to add the prizes for the Dead Pool to the week's roundup:

Thanks,
-ls

Comparing the cost of living in red states and blue states.
Alan K. Henderson

Gordie (RoguePundit)  Permalink 

Canadian Sewage

For those of you heading to Canada, here's something for your to-do list...get Canada to stop dumping raw sewage into its rivers, lakes, and oceans.  The Victoria BC area alone dumps over 26 million gallons of raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean each day; it's a supposedly modern city that lacks a sewage treatment plant.  Victoria screens the sewage to keep the bigger solids (from grit to man-made things) out of the water, and it makes industrial activities like dry cleaners capture their hazardous wastes on site...

La Shawn Barber

Is Bush Duty-Bound To Reach Out To Black Voters?

A black liberal columnist implies that if Bush doesn't pander to blacks with "black issues", he's shirking his duty to "serve all." The columnist is wrong, of
course, and I tell him why.

"Tinseltown rebellion"
Hollywood hunkers down as the Dark Ages, or so they imagine, begin.

Muchas gracias....cgh

Steve: Blog D'Elisson

"You Say You've Got a (R)evolution" - We don't really live in Moron Central, but the national media may have you believing differently.

Here's my COTV submission. Thanks:
But Does He Like Naked Statues?
The Geneva Conventions are quaint,
Said Gonzales. A scholar, he ain't.
But he's Dub's nominee
For the post of AG,
Where no doubt he will rule sans restraint.   

Eric Scheie

"NOTICE TO ALL COMMENTERS!"

The Classical Values Eleven Rules of Etiquette for Commenters.

Please find below submissions for SEVEN different blogs (NOT seven
submissions for one blog)

Dissecting Leftism says that the big Democrat vote in the major cities was
mainly a bought vote

Greenie Watch is having a laugh at the latest claims about the Arctic
warming up

Political Correctness Watch has an article about the banning of a major
conservative political party in Belgium

Gun Watch has an article about the shambles that is the British gun registry

Socialized Medicine says that the banned flu vaccine was perfectly OK

Education Watch says that minorities want access to private schools in
Australia too

Leftists as Elitists debunks Ted Rall's claim that Leftists are smarter

Condi in 2008
I predict Condoleeza Rice gets the Republican nod in 2008

Wicked Thoughts says that Brian Leiter's attacks on Christians are childish

I have a Yasser Arafat Retrospective

Thank you,
David Gerstman

America and Terrorism

One of the unique things about the United States is its lack of groups that
commit terrorist acts that disrupt our lives. We have our Eric Rudolphs and
Ted Kuzinskis, and our SDS and ALF. But they don't capture the notice that
groups in smaller First World countries do. Maybe it's because we are such a
large country. In part, it's because we don't have any serious separatist
movements. And, in great measure, it's because we routinely accept a level
of violence that would not be tolerated in other nations and would be called
terrorism by them.

The SmarterCop
Pietro --  Generosity
Think the south doesn't carry its own weight? Charitably speaking, that notion just don't fly.

"How?" by Josh Cohen of www.d-42.com In response to an entry about how a young man didn't know what to do with his hands during sex, I lament a gaping hole in school-run sex education.

See that you're listed as hosting Carnival of the Vanities....so here's an entry:
"Reviewing currently modish ideas on childcare, Tim comes up with a truly radical and progressive idea."

Homelessness Report - Meanest Cities In summary, if a city has laws to prevent
vagrants from turning the community into a toilet, chances are the city will be ranked high on the "mean scale."

Blog: Interested-Participant

WAL-MART WORLD  A whirlwind tour of a neighborhood Wal-Mart Supercenter...

King of Fools
Grinching

I note from Silflay Hraka that you are hosting the Carnival of the
Vanities this week.  I would like to submit, from my blog Caerdroia
a post on how Democrats are coming to see Federalism as a good thing after their election loss, and what can be done to improve our system because of this. 

Thanks

-jeff

Tex the Pontificator

Does Moving Toward a Safer World Count?

When I was a child, I was often told that "virtue is its own reward." I can't say that I acted much on that as a child, but the saying has a point that came to mind when I saw the headline of Chirac's admonishment to Blair. Chirac announced that Blair has gained nothing by supporting Bush, apparently wanting to influence British opinion against Blair.

The Gleeful Extremist slams Jacques Chirac for denigrating England's support of the U.S. 

Finally, from your hostess: my dad's obit at the DesertLight Journal. He taught me to love and respect men; which is why I work so hard in fighting the feminists and their campaign to make men second-class citizens. Our fathers, brothers, and sons are worthwhile human beings that don't deserve the abuse they get in media, courts, and human services.

Blog on!

The Bloggers Should Be TIME's People of the Year

I concur -- no other group has done so much to start opening up our institutions to the will of the people, no other group has so much potential to bring positive change!

From Steve Rubel:

The Person of the Year is defined as follows:

"Person of the Year is an annual issue of TIME magazine that features a profile on the man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or worse, has most influenced events in the preceding year"

For 2004, I cannot think of a single person or persons that had a greater influence on society than the bloggers. Let's remind them by making our voice heard. If you think about American politics, media, business - no one, no one had a greater influence for better or worse than the bloggers. Not Osama Bin Laden. Not Sadaam Hussein. Not John Kerry. No one. The bloggers absolutely deserve to be this year's People of the Year.

Check Steve's site for info on how you can speak your mind on this!

offline

I'll be offline for a few days -- my elderly dad has taken a turn for the worse, and we've called in Hospice to help. I'll be mostly over at the home helping as much as I can to make him comfortable.

I'd appreciate your prayers for an easy transition for him -- he's been very unhappy and miserable for several years without my mom, and so this is a good thing, not a sad thing. He's 95, and has had a good run.

Thanks!

T____

Sweet Quickies

If you're hosting a dinner or any kind of celebration, why not show off a little with a make-it-yourself dessert bar? These look more complicated than they are, and can serve the dual purpose of satisfying everybody, if your friends have diverse tastes or dietary needs. Mix and match ingredients according to the size of the group.

What You Need:

Plain cookies or pound cake (cut in bite-size pieces)

Fresh fruit - pineapple, melon, pear slices, mandarin orange or tangerine sections, strawberries, seedless grapes, etc. (Avoid apples as they will turn brown, and berries that are too small)

Dips - Dipping chocolate, 2 or 3 flavors of ready-made frosting, or sour cream sweetened with honey and a dash of vanilla or cinnamon for extra flavor.

You can serve the dips right in the containers they come in -- cover them with foil, then colored plastic wrap. Tie a ribbon or colored string around each one to keep the foil/wrap together.

Provide a serving spoon for each dip, plenty of toothpicks and little paper plates, and there you have it!

Bonus recipe:

Leftover fruit and cake pieces can be tossed together in a bowl, and drizzled with the sour cream dip for a family dessert after the company has gone home, and you're too tired to be creative the next day!

Best of Me Symphony

The Best of Me Symphony is assembled at Yuma Tech Consortium! Hurry, don't miss the overture!