Thanksgiving memories

Like most people I've had an interesting Thanksgiving or two.  When I was a teenager and into my early twenties a group of friends and I used to go motorcycle riding in the desert over the holiday.  One of the best times was cooking a complete Thanksgiving dinner for 26 out of one of these:

Of course ours wasn't bright and shiny and just remodeled, it was plain aluminum and we left it sitting out in the desert when we weren't using it so it was a little unkempt.  But handy it was and as a group when we all chipped in to buy it, after having used tents for years, we really thought we were moving uptown.

Surprisingly, what turned out to be a really good Thanksgiving was the one I celebrated while living in England.  I was taking some classes and working and since they don't celebrate the holiday I had class scheduled on that day.  I tried to negotiate the day off, but there was a test so my instructor finally said that I could go in long enough to take the test and then I could leave.

I bought a lovely big turkey, planning to make that and all of the traditional trimmings, and invited all of my friends for Thanksgiving dinner.

There was just a small problem with the turkey.

Similar, but much more modern

 Being young and dumb and awkward it never occurred to me that a person living in a small flat with a single hob Aga companion probably shouldn't buy the biggest turkey she could find.  

Since I was in a small rented flat, I had no suitable implement for dealing with the problem so I called on a friend.  Neil is Canadian and understood the importance of the holiday to me, and he was invited to dinner so it had some significance for him as well.

Borrowing this

from his landlord, he and his roommate came to the rescue.  We scrubbed and sterilized it and they cut the turkey down the middle.  I popped it into the pan on the cut side and forced the leg that was kind of sticking up in the air (it wasn't a perfectly straight cut) down and between us we got it shoved into the oven.

I then left to take my test, asking Neil and David to mind the turkey.  Everything else was done, and would only need a little warming when I got home, so I was quite satisfied that all was in order when I left.

A couple of hours later I was just finishing up when I received a text.

"Turkey on fire."

Of course I rushed through the rest and was almost home, just coming out of the underground, when I got another text.

"Fire out.  Bring more beer."

The turkey was completely inedible, but everything else was good, there was plenty, and the company was truly excellent. I still give thanks that I can call them friends.