A couple of my blog readers raised their own turkeys this year. We did not. I have never raised a turkey although I've been tempted to shoot one at the bug-out place. This Thanksgiving is unusual for me. We aren't heading down to Southern California to celebrate with my brothers, sisters, or mother. I'm not having it at my house. Army daughter is holding the celebration at her house with my kids and grand kids in attendance. Oh yeah, I have to bring the tables and chairs or we will be sitting on the floor!
One of the things we look forward to at Thanksgiving besides the family and football is GOOD food. Fortunately, I am making the turkey and bringing it over. Son is making sweet potatoes. He usually puts too much sweetening in it but with marshmallows it's sweet anyway. Oldest daughter is making the pies. She is a fantastic pie maker. Grandson came over today to collect all my pie plates. Seems she is on a roll and ran out of pie plates! Army daughter is responsible for the green beans and rolls. The rolls are store bought. The green bean casserole can't be messed up, can it? Army daughter said she is making stuffing. OK, but I always thought stuffing is part of turkey making. I'll make the stuffing anyway because stuffing made inside the bird is always better than the extra you make outside the bird. I don't think she thought about potatoes but she did buy jars of gravy. Looking forward to it but it's just strange that it's not at my house.
With all the good food that we eat at Thanksgiving, and no, I'm not forgetting about being thankful even though I'm just focusing on food, I was wondering what it would be like if TSHTF and we were celebrating without electricity, running to the grocery store, everyone easily able to travel over here, or even pondering about Black Friday. (Run on sentence, I know!) What about the turkey? So even if there's not much semblance of society as we know it, keeping holidays is one way to keep some sort of state of tranquillity in our lives. So, what about the turkey? What would Thanksgiving be like if you had a chicken or fish? When we celebrate with my sister-in-law we always have a vegetable lasagna in addition to the turkey because she doesn't eat meat. So lasagna has become part of our tradition.
All the side dishes we eat are easy to replicate if you can't get to the store. It's really a very easy meal to grow or make from scratch. All except the turkey. What about at your house? How would you keep the holiday without the main attraction of the holiday (the turkey)? Would you think about raising turkeys? I never really thought about it. I just assumed that I'd shoot one, but then so would everyone else who has property by the bug-out place.
Every year at this time we take advantage of the supermarket deals that offer turkey for $.19 a lb if you buy $50 worth of groceries. We cook it on the first day and cut it up and can it the second day. All of the bones and scraps go into the pot with 12 quarts of water to make broth. Typically we get 7 quarts of turkey in broth and 7 quarts of broth. We did two last year and still have turkey and broth but we might do four this year.
ReplyDeleteThere weren't any good turkey sales this year. The cheapest was about $.50 per pound. I did find sweet potatoes for $.20 a pound! I bought a lot since I don't grow them.
ReplyDeleteThat would be something worth doing next year, grow everything...turkey, sweet potatoes, potatoes, green beans, home made rolls (perhaps even trying a wheat patch), home made juice and wine. I think I'm up to the challenge.
No great turkey sales here in Virginia either. I like turkey, but it wouldn't be a great loss to me if I couldn't have it. When I cook a turkey I get a much bigger one than I need, and then I pressure can as many pint jars of meat, and also soup, as It will make. I wouldn't raise turkeys for meat, though. If I needed to raise poultry I'd choose chickens instead. But really, I could become a vegetarian so easily - and at that point I think that's what I would do.
ReplyDeleteOur turkey experiment has been put on hold because of sickness. We're hoping to finish one tomorrow and the other later.
ReplyDeleteWe do have sweet potatoes, and green beans from the garden. Brother-in-law will bring his wine and I'm sure there will be something with the hens eggs from the garden.
Hope you have a wonderful and thankful day.
The deed was done today. More comments will follow.
ReplyDeleteYes! We will be ordering turkeys for the first time in March. Last year was our experiment in raising Freedom Ranger meat chickens, pigs and a calf. We bought 3 pigs, for 20 each. They forage for themselves on the property, plus get food scraps, except for meat scarps, those go to the dogs. The calf we also bought, a good beef breed for $125. We will breed her in 7 months to a friend's Angus bull. We had planned to get a steer, but SURPRISE it was a heifer (that's what you get for picking a calf up in the dark). So, along with these and now turkeys, ducks are also in the plan for this year.
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