Turkey, or turkey

Well, the jury is in. Next year, Butterball. Don't get me wrong, the turkey was delicious. Jerry did his usual spectacular job in coordinating the entire meal, and the turkeys were both done to perfection. I say turkeys as in plural because there were none that were 20 lbs, so we opted for 2 tens. We are big sandwich/leftover eaters and anything less than 20 lbs would not suffice. So, instead of one turkey we executed two. I was over that pretty quickly. More of everything. Really quite brilliant when you think of it. Not just two large legs, but four substantial legs. Perfect. Anyway, the turkeys were cooked on the barbeque and hickory smoked. We sat down to eat, Jerry, myself, Jackie, Jesse, Walter and Allison. The sides were all completed and everyone's must have's were present. Grace was said, and we all took our turns expressing that which we were most grateful for. It was a lovely moment, really. Walter's comment that he was thankful for Birth Control notwithstanding, it was a warm and happy moment. My heart was big. I took my first bite of turkey and that first inkling dawned on me. This doesn't taste like my favorite turkey. It tasted delicious, I will admit, but it was different. It had a "gamey" taste about it. And the texture was different. Now, I realize these differences are most like a result of no antibiotics or growth hormones being injected, and the fact that these are the tastes that I am used to is not something I'm proud of. In fact, it is a total embarassment. I'm reminded of the time we took Jackie, Walter and Allison to the Goshen County Fair in Connecticut. We had passed through the agriculture building and the smell amongst the cows and livestock was overwhelming. Just manure, good, wholesome manure. My three children were coughing and gagging as though they were dying. We finally escaped out the exit, which landed us right next to the generator truck which was running the carnival rides. The gasoline and fumes were black and swallowed us up, and the comment from my kids? "Thank God-Fresh Air!" It was one of those moments when you realize you might have missed a bit of their country education. Well, that is how I feel today. We went to such great lengths to get a hormone-free range turkey, which is clearly beneficial to us all, and I expected it to taste as good as its benefits. I'm sad to say, I'm not a fan. Now, it could have been something to do with the hickory chips on the barbeque, because that wasn't moving me either-kind of a smoked kind of flavor which I don't love. Except the texture was different too. But I will say this - Next year, hormones, antibiotics, whatever else they want to throw in there. Bring it on. And in the meantime, I will be busy pointing out all those things in life that Walter might want to focus in on. Besides, well. . . . never mind.