Thanksgiving Fun - Part 4

The Drunken Turkey

All week long, I heard about the "Drunken Turkey" that J.C. made last year. He uses a lot of alcohol; rum, brandy, and I don't know what else. It was talked about a lot, right along with Aunt Macie's beans.

When Thanksgiving morning came around, I walked in the kitchen and J.C. was preparing the turkey. When he put it in the oven, he used a foil roasting pan and put some sheets of foil on the lower rack to catch any drippings. I remember thinking, he should probably use a cookie sheet or something more firm. But, it was his turkey and I figured he knew what he was doing. J.C. left to serve at the Salvation Army for the afternoon, to return around 4 p.m.

I spent that afternoon playing games with my grandma in the breakfast nook, watching everyone prepare food in the kitchen. Around 3 p.m., people started arriving with their food to contribute. We kept playing, incorporating people as they came and went. I peeked in the oven once or twice, and noticed some smoke, but figured it was just some turkey juice leaking, and J.C. would be home soon.

Four o'clock came and went. Other people were peeking in the oven. More smoke was coming out. Around 4:20 p.m., my dad, along with Uncle Ronnie, decided the turkey had to come out. They opened the oven all the way, and tried to lift out the 23 pound turkey, but the foil pan foiled thier plan; they couldn't get a good grip. Then the fun started.

Trying to lift the turkey let more of the liquid out. Now, keep in mind this is a new gas oven that hadn't been used before. The next thing we know, the liquid has caught on fire! The door is quickly closed and someone yells for a fire extinguisher. Some of us (okay, me) protest that a fire extinguisher will make the turkey inedible. In the midst of all this, the kids (all under 5) run by and dad yells, "Get the kids out of here!" I might have also called for a camera.

The door is opened again and the fire shoots up. Chris says, "Get some baking soda!" I think I kept my mouth shut that time, but I wanted to protest - the Drunken Turkey sounded really good! Since no one knew where the baking soda was, someone ran to the house next door, and still couldn't find any. We finally decided that the best thing to do was keep the door closed and hope the fire suffocated. It worked.

Uncle Nacho came over, saying "People keep running around; what's going on over here?" I think there were 15+ people in the kitchen, standing a safe distance from the oven. All the windows in the house were open, the fans on. The turkey was safely rescued without a bit of burning. It was the oils spilling out of the pan that caused the fire.

J.C. came home not very long after everything settled down. He didn't seem too worried about the turkey, and it ended up being underdone. I guess 5 hours isn't long enough for such a large bird.

Our card game and dinner preparations continued.