The boom and bust of Tom Turkey

Last weekend when running up Prospect Hill, Seth took me to the summit where he had been spotting a large wild male turkey in full display mode. I found this a little hard to digest because I always thought of wild turkeys as being scrawny, lean little guys, but when we made it to the summit (located at the end of a road which I normally bypass), sure enough, I saw a great big Tom Turkey strutting along the ridge overlooking the entire city of Waltham, with downtown Boston spread out in the distance. He probably hadn't left his post in days. It was the most remarkable thing I had seen in months; he looked just like a farm-yard turkey with a colorful head, barred wings, a decorative beard of feathers hanging off his chest, and an amazing tail that he periodically fanned out, making a swoosh. Who would have thought, that positioned at the second highest peak in the entire Boston area, struts a turkey? I returned a day or two later with a camera but like a ghost he was no where to be found. In fact, he hasn't been seen since that wonderful Sunday morning...

Ironically, last night I baked up a huge Thanksgiving-style turkey dinner to celebrate the end of Seth's first year teaching as a professor--he submitted the final grades to the registrar earlier in the day. (This served the triple purpose of also clearing out the freezer, which was annoyingly occupied with that 9.5lb headless carcass, and allowing me to practice roasting an entire bird for ourselves, just in case I botched it). It was a good thing we didn't have guests over because the turkey was still frozen, even though I transferred it from the freezer to fridge three days ago (we have a cold fridge). Also, I realized I didn't have a meat thermometer so couldn't check for doneness, so I cooked it at a lower temp for a few extra hours and it turned out dry. Oh well. I cooked everything from scratch (which took all day, but at least I won't have to cook again for several days), with the best part being the dark chocolate pudding pie for dessert (no Jello-Pudding here!). ;o)


*Yes, I realize the light is really bad, so don't be fooled--the food was more appetizing than the photos suggest!