I guess if Thursday is nicknamed Turkey
Day, then yesterday had to be Fried Turkey Day.
Well, Chris also made a huge batch of no-peanut-allergy-affected cookies,
but that was a walk in the park for her.
One day a year, usually the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we break out
our two big outdoor fryers, fill up two huge pots with peanut oil and spend the
day frying turkeys. This year’s total
was kind of down from years past, though.
We only did ten. Ten turkeys
ranging in weight from 11 pounds (that was the one Kel brought over) to 13
pounds (that one was for Josh and Christi) to almost 16 pounds (that was the
one for the fire department where Nathan works). Most of them hover around 13 pounds,
though. That has proven over the years
to be the most effective, “ideal” weight for our pots. We have a not-so-secret, secret recipe for
seasoning that we got from our friend Alex McLaughlin. Well, if I understand it right, it was
technically from his mother. Where she
got it, I have no idea. Chris rubs the
turkeys down a day or so before the frying event and we let them sit in it as
the thaw out in the fridge. I know
there’s a word for “let them sit in it,” but I don’t remember what it is right
now. Too early in the morning.
I got the fire going under the pots by
about 9 a.m. It takes an hour for the
grease to get hot enough for the first entry, so the frying didn’t officially
begin until around ten. Ten. That’s about the time I got the call from
Nathan that he was awake and getting ready to come over to help out with the
lifting. This year he brought over
something that really was helpful – a pair of his old bunker gear gloves. That had to be a great picture. Each of us wearing a big old fireman glove on
one hand, dipping a turkey into a bubbling cauldron of 300 degree grease. Inspiring.
He also invited a fire fighter friend of his to come over and hang out
for a while. Andy’s wife Katy was
getting her nails done with April, so Nathan and Andy needed a more “guy-oriented”
activity to pass the time. Burning large
birds in fiery pits seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I tried to get Andy to do some carving, but
the only key activity I could convince him to partake in was … tasting. Hey, somebody’s gotta do it, I guess. Right, Andy?
The last of the turkeys came out around
3:30. I finally finished carving and
cleaning up some of the utensils by 4 or so.
By that time April and her fingernails had arrived, and Cailyn soon woke
up from her nap. Kel took his 11 pounder
with him. Nathan kept the fire
department turkey intact and took it with him.
He said they could carve it themselves.
So we now have a refrigerator full of turkeys ready for Thanksgiving and
beyond (Chris freezes three or four of them for use all throughout the
year). The only thing remaining (other
than eating, of course) is to pour out the potful’s of grease and scrub the
pots down. That’s always a fun, nasty,
grimy project. Can’t wait.
Psalms 40:4 says, “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to
the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.”
Father, help us make Thanksgiving a day of
trust as well as thanks. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment