Meal planning

 

That's a 1955 Thanksgiving food ad. A turkey dinner was a once-a-year treat when we were kids. With inflation, 60 cents a pound for turkey is the equivalent in purchasing power to $7 today. If you were lucky, a free turkey was a generous gift from your employer.

This was long before the days of processed turkey lunch meat, and a real turkey sandwich was a big deal.  

Our mom was a frugal cook by necessity. She generally only made enough for one meal. Leftovers meant bad meal planning, but turkey was the exception. After the meat had been picked off and made into things like croquettes, she put the whole carcass back in the roasting pan to heat up, then we pulled it apart at the table to get every last morsel off the bones. Wish I had a photo of three hungry kids attacking a carcass.

One year, mom's cub scout den even made Santa sleighs from breast bones. Remember those?

Anyway, I usually buy the biggest turkey possible, but this year went for quality over quantity and got a smaller Butterball instead. I just don't have room in the fridge for a behemoth, not to mention, lifting a 20 pound bird in and out of the oven. 

That's enough turkey stories-- a surprising number of people don't care for turkey at all. To us, it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a whole turkey.