Wild Turkeys in our Future

Stopping traffic in Alameda (Oda/ Bay Area News Group)

In addition to the wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bears, and pigs that are returning to the Bay Area, let's not forget about the wild turkeys.

Today, there are around 250,000 wild turkeys throughout California. They can be found in 49 states across the country – the only state without wild turkeys is Alaska.

“They are a species that can adapt for really anywhere,” said Sebastian Garcia, the California regional director for the National Wild Turkey Foundation.

Several factors may influence the movement and presence of wild turkeys in urban and suburban areas.

For one, when female turkeys nest, they often search for places that are easily concealed by bushes or other vegetation, according to a University of Minnesota study. This may attract them to urban parks or leafy neighborhoods with ample undergrowth.

Additionally, the turkey diet ranges widely, including insects, seeds, fruits, and even mice. Wild turkeys in human-populated settings were documented using available resources for food, such as bird feeders, food plots, acorns, or fruit trees.

The study also found that despite female turkeys’ need for natural spaces, many turkeys actually rely on human-populated, developed areas during the autumn and winter.

Another key factor that draws wild turkeys to urban settings is a sense of safety.

“If they have less bobcats or mountain lions or coyotes – other predators – chasing them, they notice they’re a little bit safer in these neighborhoods,” Garcia said.

March, 2023: "Tom" on Foster City Blvd.

2¼ years ago Foster City was home to a wild turkey. We never did find out what happened to him, but no worries: we are likely to see more of his relatives in the near future.

Temptation Avoided

In bygone days I might well have succumbed to the temptation. 20-lb. tom turkeys that had been priced at 99¢ / pound were marked down by $10, i.e. they were half-priced.

Getting the turkey would have involved a one-day obligation to prepare, roast, and carve the bird. And to what end? To add 20 pounds of leftovers to those already in the refrigerator.

Tangible objects--turkeys, computers, cars, houses--are not only assets but liabilities. They require a commitment to use, consume, maintain and repair.

The cost of the $10 turkey markdown greatly exceeded the benefit when one assigns a slightly positive amount-even $2/hour--to one's time to extract value from the purchase. I looked at the toms wistfully, then moved on.

Happy Thanksgiving

The turkey's halfway done. It needs to be turned and basted.

The hen is smaller than the birds we have bought in years past, but it's just us and there will still be enough leftovers to last through the weekend.

One element of the holiday hasn't changed: we have much to be thankful for, and family is a big part of that attitude of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Talking Turkey

Our 15-lb. hen cost 99 cents/pound.

The cost of Thanksgiving dinner is going down. [bold added]

The average price for a turkey this holiday season is projected to be down for a second year in a row, said the American Farm Bureau Federation in its annual report released this week. The lower cost for the headline attraction looks to cut costs for those hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, but some favorite side dishes will remain stubbornly expensive for shoppers.

The Farm Bureau projects the average price for a Thanksgiving turkey to fall 6.1% to $25.67, or $1.68 a pound, this year...But cheaper meat is only part of the story, as the cost to make many family-favorite side dishes continues to rise. For example, fans of mashed potatoes may find the cost for that dish a little steeper. A smaller North American potato crop this year due to adverse weather issues and a change in consumer demand has the U.S. potato price up 7.6% year over year, said commodities research firm Expana in its own report issued this month, citing data from the USDA.

Prices for processed goods also are on the rise. The Farm Bureau said that it expects prices for a 14-ounce package of stuffing mix to increase by more than 8% from last year to $4.08. The price for a dozen dinner rolls also is expected to rise by more than 8% to $4.16.

Even worse for those with a sweet tooth, prices for some pies may be increasing, with Expana’s Thanksgiving Pecan Pie index up 8% from last year, due mostly to higher prices for pecans that are offsetting cheaper costs for sugar, vanilla and butter.

Overall, the Farm Bureau forecasts the cost of the average Thanksgiving meal for a group of 10 people at $58.08. That’s down 5% from the previous year, and down 9% from the record of $64.06 set in 2022, the highest since the Farm Bureau began its yearly assessment in 1986.

Feeding ten people for $58.08 sounds incredibly cheap until one realizes that the Farm Bureau has assumed that most of the dishes have been made from scratch.

Cost reductions aren't enjoyed by city dwellers, who tend to have small Thanksgiving gatherings and opt for convenience over cost. We will roast our own turkey, however, and take special enjoyment from its $15 cost, which will be spread over meals throughout the weekend.

Gratitude Weekend

It was the day of turkey reckoning. As we had noted previously, turkey was not on the menu for Thursday. However, the ingredients for a traditional Thanksgiving meal had been sitting in the refrigerator for nearly a week. Roasting the bird had been deferred, not cancelled.

And so it was that the turkey entered the oven at 8 a.m. It was cooked at 225 degrees Fahrenheit and required minimal oversight. We had dinner at 7.

There was no need to say again our gratitude for the big things that we were thankful for. Today, the end of gratitude weekend, we just gave thanks for the turkey (and gravy and stuffing and cranberry sauce and...) and the company gathered 'round.

Thanksgiving, 2023

(WSJ photo)

Like many others, we're not making a turkey today, but this is ridiculous:

[Kimberly Darling] forgoes the familiar turkey in favor of an alligator she traps on one of her many hunting expeditions, then she brines, smokes and wraps it in bacon before serving her guests.

“People walk in and they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s a literal alligator. What did we sign up for?’” she says.

But the mild taste and tender texture can’t be beat, adds Darling, a 40-year-old nurse anesthetist who lives near Chicago.

I retract my statement. This is not ridiculous. This is America. What a country.

The Best Things in Life are (Almost) Free

Like chicken and pigs' feet and intestines, turkey tails suffer from a "do-you-know-where-it's-been" taint that many people can't get over.

My fathers' family was poor, and his mother mastered the preparation of animal parts that the butcher would throw away.

She had a recipe for turkey tails that I've given up trying to replicate. Her marinade suffused the tails with a delicate salty-and-sour flavor that didn't overpower. Tails have a lot of fat, but she roasted them long enough for much of the fat to drain away. The skin was crispy, and the flesh was tender.

I've never seen turkey tails in California supermarkets, but at the Times market on King Street 20-lb. boxes were on sale for $47.99 ($2 off!). At today's inflated food prices, $2.50 per pound is like they're being given away.

Somebody must have a terrific recipe for turkey tails, and there's still hope in the world.

San Mateo County Fair: Farm Animal Display

To those who are unfamiliar with San Mateo County one of the surprises may have been the display of farm animals at the Fair. The County is home to some of the wealthiest towns in California, and tech companies have a large footprint. But the land hasn't been entirely paved over.

There are still ranches along the coast south of Half Moon Bay. The Santa Cruz mountains have been a barrier to development, as environmental objections have stymied speedy transit from Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

Animal husbandry will be around years longer, and so will the farm animal display at the San Mateo County Fair.

San Mateo County Fair: Giant Turkey Legs

Colorful signs made me buy it

At the San Mateo County Fair the dining offerings were nothing special (hamburgers, tacos, etc.) as well as overpriced.

A surfeit of sugary options--candied apples, cotton candy, sugar-covered fennel cakes, caramel popcorn--tempted, but they were verboten to those who have to watch their sugar intake.

Then I saw the signs for Giant Turkey Legs. They fit the bill: low carb, high protein, not commonly served in nearby restaurants, and, most importantly, I happen to like turkey.

I asked the heavy-set lady, How much is a turkey leg?

"Twenty dollars."

Does anything come with it? I thought it was a sensible question ($20 for just a drumstick?).

Surprised at such a ridiculous question, she answered with a stare. Hey, don't you know it's not polite to treat a customer this way?

I don't like getting ripped off, but I also have regrets about not trying something different when given the opportunity. I handed over two sawbucks, and she wrapped the drumstick in foil and inserted same into a paper bag.

Later that afternoon I unwrapped the turkey leg. There was a smoky flavor throughout. Although the surface layers were dry, the insides were moist. It was a pleasant surprise, but at that price I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it again.

Whatever Happened To.....

Foster City's wild turkey?

After an initial flurry of sightings, the mentions on NextDoor stopped on April 6th.

Posts from residents on the other side of Highway 101 indicated that wild turkeys were common in their towns, and it was likely that "Tom" (the beard is a giveaway that it's a male, and I'll use the male singular pronoun until he tells me different) had wandered from his flock.

By the way, NextDoor posters who did call him "Tom" were scolded for nicknaming a wild animal, which just goes to show in the Internet age that everything that people do or say is fodder for criticism.

We'll probably never know what happened to Tom, but I hope he's okay.

March Flooding (of the Switchboard)

From the Foster City Police Dept. Facebook page on March 29th:

The FCPD is aware of the large male turkey that has been wandering around Foster City. The turkey is a wild animal. We are asking the community to please refrain from calling the FCPD regarding the turkey.

We appreciate the diligence of our residents.

Thank you, the FCPD

My guess is that "please refrain from calling the FCPD" was the original last sentence, until the PR spokesperson added "We appreciate the diligence of our residents" to mellow the harsh.

There are still Bay Area communities that don't have floods, wildfires, homelessness and rampant crime, and I'm lucky to be living in one that inundates the police switchboard with reports about a loose turkey.

Turkey Day, 2021

It's been 40+ years of trial and error, and it bore fruit in yesterday's turkey.

Think of all the possibilities:

Fresh or frozen?

With stuffing or without?

Turn the bird?

Wrap the turkey in foil?

Change the temperature during roasting?

Brine beforehand?

Rub with spices and/or oil?

Three hard-to-make side dishes were store-bought.

Each of the above in turn has many options. Stuffing recipes are innumerable, temperature adjustments can be high to low or vice versa, how long before turning the turkey over, if at all, etc.

My wife's late aunt had a reliable method for keeping the meat moist---cover the turkey with a wet paper shopping bag, replacing it every hour as it dried out. We stopped using that technique when supermarkets switched from paper to plastic.

Here's the 2021 recipe. On Tuesday wash the fresh turkey, pat dry, and season all over. (I used salt, pepper, and garlic.) Leave uncovered in the refrigerator until ready to cook. On Wednesday evening rub with butter and roast in oven, breast-side down, at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn the bird and roast at 400 for 20 minutes. Pour 2 cups wine or apple cider over bird. Adjust the temperature down to 170 degrees and roast for 12-20 hours until inner thigh temperature reads at least 160 degrees. Baste if skin appears dry (I only did this once). After removing turkey from oven, allow at least 30 minutes before carving.

My limit was one plate plus a second helping of turkey.

I had to save room for the pumpkin pie.

I hope you and your loved ones had a Happy Thanksgiving.

We Won't Be Starving

Last-minute Thanksgiving shoppers could find everything in stock at Costco today.

In fact there's a surfeit, glut, abundance, plethora and every other synonym for surplus, of turkeys at 99 cents a pound.

I meant to buy a 12-pounder last Friday but only a 20-pound bird was in the display. Spooked by reports of food shortages, I grabbed the tom.

It does not require a crystal ball to envision lots of turkey a la king and turkey sandwiches in the near future.

A Turkey of a Dish

Still dithering over the sourcing of our Thanksgiving dinner (this year there have been strong pleas to order takeout to support struggling restaurants), I purchased the ingredients last Thursday.

Except for the bird itself, most of the dishes just require heating in the microwave. We'll cook the curkey because I like having leftovers in case people drop in to munch on while watching football.

After decades of experimentation, and more than a few failures, I'm going with the low-heat method, which is very forgiving if the turkey is left in the oven too long.

This Thanksgiving trend-watchers expect more turkey disasters than usual:

Public officials have issued blunt warnings or orders for Thanksgiving during the pandemic: Don’t travel and keep gatherings small. That means many people who have skated for years as guests without cooking Thanksgiving dinner are having to face making the holiday meal for themselves this year...

The Turkey Talk-Line expects an influx of callers “who are actually preparing their Thanksgiving all by themselves for the very first time,” said Carol Miller, a [Butterball] supervisor.

“It could be the auntie who always took the pies to the Thanksgiving meals,” she said. ”She did the Easter ham and really didn’t worry about the turkey.”

It could be someone who is staring into the cavity of a raw turkey for the first time.

“Maybe you’ve never looked for the giblets in the turkey before,” Ms. Miller said.

The first time one tries to duplicate a recipe from written instructions or even a YouTube video rarely results in a passable dish, and I do speak from personal experience.

The good news, dear reader, is that this year the only victims of the attempt will be the few in your household instead of members of a large family gathering....And there will be more leftovers, too.

Costco Food-Buying Normalization

A half an hour before closing on Friday the Costco store and parking lot were nearly deserted.

Though Costco is one of the few major retail outlets without an official "Black Friday" sale, some items, particularly those related to Thanksgiving dinner, were heavily discounted.

The turkey-stuffing-gravy combo was marked down to $15 from the original $30. Reason prevented the purchase, as did the recollection of our refrigerator overflowing with leftovers.

We did leave with a shopping cart of items, mostly food, that cost $110. Two days later I couldn't tell you what we bought.

Early Turkey

Wednesday's child is full of stuffing.

Because some of us had travel plans today, we celebrated Thanksgiving Wednesday night. The hastened schedule resulted in some of the usual items--vegetables, potatoes--being purchased pre-cooked then microwaved (BTW, the quality is improving every year), but the turkey was roasted traditionally.

Consequently on Thanksgiving Day the kitchen was uncluttered and the only cooking involved was reheating leftovers.

Hmm, I'm thinking of starting a new tradition..... (Hey, Black Friday now starts on Thursday or earlier.)

Not Pining for Brining

Ice bucket from 2012

This year I didn't feel up to the two-day prep for brining the turkey, especially the part where I had to reconfigure the outside refrigerator to accommodate the ice water bucket.

Dry brining--rubbing down the turkey with spices the day before--sounded like just the ticket. To safeguard against dryness I began roasting the turkey under low heat (225 degrees F) after midnight; 12 hours later the bird was pronounced excellent by the small group of guinea pigs diners.

Though its texture was good, I thought the turkey was lacking the flavor that a one- or two-day soaking will impart, but I'm not a perfectionist.

Speaking of perfectionism, Bradley Cooper plays a celebrity chef who is on a relentless pursuit for his third Michelin star in 2015's Burnt. Head chef Adam Jones yells at his staff, hurls crockery filled with food, and rushes madly from station to station putting the finishing touches on each dish---in other words, he's Steve Jobs in the kitchen.

The haute cuisine cinematography is beautiful, and the non-stop frenzy behind the scene of a top-notch restaurant is captured realistically according to those in the know. Well worth a look.

Thanksgiving Day, Noon

4 hours in, 3 hours to go

Turkey Easy Peasy

Over the years we've experimented with various methods of cooking the Thanksgiving turkey: the paper bag, the foil wrap, the low-temperature / high-temperature switch, and stuffing or not stuffing the bird; apprehensive, we have yet to try deep-frying.

Nowadays there are also choices about the primary ingredient: farm-raised vs. wild (chart), fresh vs frozen.

We don't feel adventurous, so we'll stick with the store-bought fresh turkey and rely on brining to add flavor. On Tuesday I boiled the brine spices and vegetables and left the mixture on the stove to cool overnight. This morning the brine was poured over the 23-pound turkey, and the bucket was refrigerated for 24 hours.

Tomorrow the turkey will be rinsed, rubbed with butter, then browned on each side at 400 degrees. The oven will be dialed down to 200 degrees, where it will remain for 7 to 8 hours. Even the breast meat should turn out to be moist and tender. Easy peasy.

Turkey Day

The turkey entered the oven at nine. The back and front were seared for 20 minutes, then the heat was lowered and the automatic meat thermometer set to 160. The thigh temperature hit the mark six hours later, and the oven switched off.

We drove to Mimi's Cafe to pick up a couple of side dishes. (For $100 Mimi's will prepare a "holiday feast" that will feed 6 to 8 people, but never having outsourced Thanksgiving before, I didn't feel like entrusting the entire dinner to someone else.) Mimi's was strained to the breaking point; all tables were filled, plus the take-out line was ten deep. They had lost our order, which had been placed two weeks earlier. No problem, there were extra sides in the cooler, and they filled our order in 15 minutes. I was silently grateful (it is Thanksgiving) that I had not ordered the full holiday feast.

We returned home just in time to remove the turkey from the oven. Of course, today there are big things for which we are profoundly thankful, but a tender, juicy, flavorful bird certainly helped to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. © 2013 Stephen Yuen