TURDUCKEN DAY

Thanksgiving was spent at Stanford this year, hosted by Em’s class of first-year PhD candidates. Early on, Em told them of that most mythical of roastable beasts, the turducken, the chimerical monstrosity that results when a chicken is stuffed in a duck which is subsequently stuffed in a turkey, stuffing mitigating the interfaces between the three fowl. An offhand mention became a crusade, leading to a week of phone negotiation with the butcher, and culminated in a decidedly tender and delicious roast. The unveiling of the monster was accompanied by music of questionable taste.

The rest of the meal ended up being a grand success. About 23 some-odd people attended (including the SF Williams contingent), and the meal featured all manner of foodstuffs, including Turkish stuffed peppers, some fantastic home-made potstickers, cheese croquettes, squash rendered in several ways, and several pies, ice creams, and baklava. I personally contributed the cranberry orange relish and a Lindzer torte. Actually Em, made the crust for the latter. I just filled it with boiled raspberries.

I brought my camera down from Berkeley and then forgot to take it to the event, as usual. I will try and pass along any imagery that emerges from alternate sources.