Thanksgiving in Appalachia Approaches

. . . and these here birds down the road a quarter mile jes' don't have a clue.

So you and teechur are gonna have truly fresh bird for thanksgiving then DD? Sounds yummy,please take pics of you dressed bird and recipe please.HAHA
We went the cowards route,butterballs for .99 lb,thawing out in spare fridge now.

JOHN

PS happy thanksgiving

For birds so very savvy at detecting danger in their natural environment, they sure are dumb in regards to other threats. I guess a pea-sized brain only has room for instinct and can't understand that a 2000-lb vehicle traveling at 45mph might pose a little risk. The route I take to work crosses an area where a large flock roosts and where they feed. They cross the road with total impunity, and then stand in the middle of the road trying to decide whether to retreat or continue when I stop just a few yards short.

The wild birds are over-rated as table fare IMO. A bit gamey, and the legs are tough as shoe leather. I'll stick with the farm-raised, growth-hormone-infused variety to get my gobble on!

Appalacian jive turkey.

That's the cowards way out?

I'm going with the take out option of a dinner already prepared, hot and ready to eat when you pick it up. You don't even have to reheat anything.

If I was in Vegas I'd hit one of the Turkey Day buffets and not even have to worry about cleanup.

This is a question for anyone that has eaten a wild turkey: how do they compare in taste to a store-bought Butterball cooked the traditional way?

I haven't tried wild turkey except for the whiskey, but if anyone wants another POV on turkey intelligence, PBS is currently running a program which discusses that very subject. Some naturalist in Florida raised a clutch of 'em from eggs and lived with them for over a year. He thinks turkeys are pretty smart.

Here is a fact sheet offered as an addendum to that program:

My Life as a Turkey

If I had a choice, I'd definitely opt for the wild turkey over the Butterball. The wild one has a very strong gamey taste, which I love, while the Butterball has, well, no taste except for what you put on it or in it. The wild also has a tougher texture, again, I prefer that to that melt in your mouth, almost mushy, Butterball. But the game taste is not for everyone, so it just depends how your taste buds lean! And since I don't have access to wild turkey most of the time, (unless my hunter friends ship me one), I usually opt for a free range turkey from a local farm for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last resort for me would be the Butterball.