Sunday, November 25, 2012

When Life Gives You a Rotten Turkey, Make TV Dinners!


Well you all know the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."  This year we applied this saying to our Thanksgiving meal.

It started Thursday morning with anticipation high in the air.  We pulled the turkey out of the refrigerator and prepared to make a wonderful feast.  The natural brined turkey was in its plastic casing and then wrapped again in a clear plastic bag.  I took a scissor out to snip the clear plastic bag and yikes!  The odor smacked us in the face.  We grimaced in horror.  We didn't dare attempt to cut the plastic casting around the turkey.  It was obvious it was bad.  So what to do next . . . .  We drove by the specialty store where we purchased the turkey, but it was closed.  No surprise really, so next we went to our local grocery store.  They had turkeys, but all were frozen rock solid.  We thought about how to solve this little dilemma looking at hams and roasts, but all were just too big for the two of us and besides, we wanted turkey.  So with an idea in our heads and a smile on our faces, and a determination to make this holiday mishap a little fun, we decided on the next best thing -- frozen turkey dinners!  Yes, that's right.  That night we dinned on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and vegetables from plastic containers cooked in the microwave and knew this would be a memorable year.  We reflected on the many things we had to be thankful for and knew that one rotten turkey in the 23 years that my husband and I have been married was not about to ruin a thing.  We have learned that with life, you have to be flexible.  After all, we have our health, our friends and families spread all over the country, and wonderful pets to share our lives with, and we are truly grateful for all of these.  A stray lemon now and then, well . . . . .

So Friday we took the turkey back to the store without any fuss.  Our money was returned to us and the manager insisted on giving us a turkey too.  They were afraid our Thanksgiving was ruined to which we said not at all and declined the need for a new turkey.  But they were determined for us to leave with another even better turkey.  So we picked the smallest from the bunch and upon exiting the store were handed a bunch of fresh flowers from the assistant store manager.  We told her how unnecessary this all was, really, but thanked them all for their generosity. 

Saturday morning we pulled the turkey out, stuffed him (oyster stuffing), and five hours later . . . . viola! -- turkey feast.  (Followed of course by turkey coma.)  Happy day!

We hope you all had a memorable and enjoyable Thanksgiving, and thank you all for your friendship and memories.




1 comment:

  1. I'm so glad it turned out for the better! Great story and definitely a Thanksgiving to remember :)

    ReplyDelete