catsittingstill

But Thanksgiving is much on my mind these days.

Dad called to ask if I wanted to cook a Turkey for Christmas. (Note--we're going to visit my Dad this year for a couple of weeks around Christmas. Dad usually asks me to do the cooking. I don't mind, actually; he supplies me with generous household money and I buy some of my favorite things, like lamb and such that I can't get here, and it gives a touch of structure to my days--and let's face it, Dad and Jake are not bad cooks, but day in and day out, I think I'm better--Plus I make them cook at least once each and make Dad take us out to dinner at least once, so it's not *that* onerous :-) ) But back to the turkey. My response was "well, I've never cooked a turkey, and don't plan to unless you're heart is really set on it." Dad didn't care all that much about turkey but idly wanted to know why. I gave him, in abbreviated form suitable for a phone conversation that is not a rant, most of these:

1) Turkeys are heavy. Because of their mass there are technical problems with getting the whole thing cooked through without overcooking the outside. These technical problems are frequently gotten around in part by basting. However, I have a bad back. It's in good shape right now, but having to lift something heavy, greasy and hot out of the oven six or eight times in an afternoon in order to baste it strikes me as the sort of thing where I should make the Dec 26th appointment with the back doctor today, while I'm sure I can get one. Seems to me Mom threw her back out really badly this way (in bed for days) when I was a little kid, which may account for my bone-deep wariness of the concept.

2) We will only have four people. Turkey is the wrong size for four people; it is the right size for twenty people. A chicken is the right size for four people. Chickens are also easy and safe to lift, and don't have to be basted, so they only have to be lifted once. Win all around.

3) I don't even like turkey that much. If Dad's heart was set on turkey I would get a *piece* of turkey and cook that. Easier, safer, and since the one who eats most of the leftovers is me, I'm not stuck eating something I don't really like for the next week. I do like chicken, and chickens are small enough that the carcass can easily be turned into soup. I make a killer coconut curry chicken soup.

4) I also *know how* to cook chicken. I am eager to experiment with desserts and such when I'm going to be cooking for people. Huge chunks of dead flesh, not so much, for some reason. There's also a commitment issue: cooking a chicken takes slightly over an hour. Cooking a turkey takes all day and once you start you can't quit.

5) I will be doing one traditional thing; pumpkin custard (probably for Christmas and buy a pumpkin pie, or at least the pie crust, which I don't know how to make, for Thanksgiving). I may make rolls if I have time, given that I would have to make them by hand since my bread maker died last year. I hate cranberries with a powerful passion (they taste very bitter to me) so I probably won't have any. My idea of gravy is what other people call pan juices--I love that, and will not be soiling it with flour. There will be rice to go with the gravy. Or perhaps I will cut potatoes carrots and mushrooms up into the huge covered roaster I cook chickens in. The roaster is good because it traps all the juices and keeps the walls of the oven cleaner. The veggies poach in the chicken juices and, man I would make more of those if I could fit more in the roaster.

So it will be chicken for Christmas, or perhaps rock cornish hen which is even smaller and tastier than chicken. Though I do remember one Christmas (or maybe New Years?) where Mom just put out bowls and bowls of treats--potato chips, candies and such. It is a shining moment in my youthful memories and must have been a lot less work than a full-fledged dinner.

I have already bought the Thanksgiving rock cornish hens and put them in the fridge to thaw. I am not sure if I will take the roaster method for cooking them or not.

Does anyone else out there make not-Turkey Thanksgiving / Christmas dinners?