Thanksgiving

While Thanksgiving is centered around being thankful for what we have in our lives, it might be the only holiday we Americans celebrate based solely around food.  Christmas has a dinner, but there are  gifts and Santa and trees and lights and the ever lengthening shopping season.  Halloween has candy, but also costumes and parties and trick or treating.  Fourth of July has a bar-b-q but it also has fireworks.  You get the idea. 

Every family has its own traditions and favorite recipes, some of which are nearly sacred.  In our family, for example, it would be sacrilege to alter the sweet potato casserole that we've had since I can remember.  These family food traditions are solidified even more after sharing a Thanksgiving at someone else's house.  I've spent one or two Thanksgivings with another family only to be left incredulously wondering how they hell they can call some plate of soupy bread "stuffing."  I've been left confused when a platter of lamb appeared instead of turkey.  Who they hell are they to challenge my traditional beliefs of what a Thanksgiving dinner should be?

In our family, the Thanksgiving spread always consists of the following: turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, butternut squash, green beans (or green bean casserole), jellied cranberry sauce, whole cranberry sauce, bread, apple pie, and pumpkin pie.  If one of these items is missing, we might have a mutiny on our hands.   
 
Since meeting my wife (who's a vegetarian) over 13 years ago, we've always toyed with the notion of having a turkey free dinner.  Honestly, the average butterball turkey you buy at Publix is never really that great.  And we're well aware of the problems inherent in factory farming a breed of bird that's breast muscles get so big it can't walk by the end of its life.  We wouldn't really miss it, would we?  

Finally, this year seemed to be the one.  It was Tuesday night and we didn't have a turkey on order.  It really seemed like we were going to take the plunge and finally go meatless for Thanksgiving.

Then, just when it felt like there was no turning back, we learned of Laughing Chicken Farm, an independent small farm in Trenton (27 miles west of Gainesville).  It's a husband and wife operation that started small and is constantly growing in popularity.  They have chickens and turkeys that they raise "the way God intended: with fresh grass, natural grains and minerals, and lots of sunshine."  They studied under the legendary Joel Salatin (look him up.  He's been featured in many back to the earth style books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma). 

As luck would have it, they had a few birds that were unclaimed by their pre-order list and farmers market buyers.  As a result, we drove nearly 60 miles round trip to buy this year's turkey.  The bird was butchered the day before and was being kept fresh on ice.  It had never been frozen.  We did zero preparation to it, and merely put it in the oven for the appropriate amount of time.  After four and a half hours, it came out incredibly perfect.  It was juicier and more savory than any other turkey I've ever had.  It actually tasted like we basted the whole thing in butter before cooking it.  In the past, I've never taken more than 2 or 3 small slices of turkey for my dinner, but this year, it was the star of my plate. 

Now, if you read my blog at all, you know I rarely eat meat, and I understand and respect the mentality of a "cruelty free" diet.  When it comes to a meal like Thanksgiving, though, I'm prepared to make an exception.  I'm even more confident in my choices when I support someone who is doing everything they can to make sure their animals lead happy, stress free lives. 

The reality is that eating meat is never going away.  I certainly appreciate someone's desire to eliminate meat and all the nasty byproducts and environmental detriments of the industry from their lives.  At the same time, a large movement has been growing that focuses on bringing food back to the farm and away from the factory setting.  A very small, independent mom and pop operation like Laughing Chicken is more than deserving of our support.  You can actually visit the farm and see how the animals are treated, witness their free ranging lives, and actually taste the difference in the meat. By giving people like the folks at Laughing Chicken our money instead of a huge conglomerate factory farm, we are encouraging more businesses to treat their animals in a humane way.  And in the end, I think that may be the most responsible choice of all.