Folks,

C51:

Saturdays are always special around here however any Saturday that you can pop in and type is extra special. I was once trying to keep track of all the recent revisions in previously uncontested historical facts of the past that I am supposed to believe is absolute fact now. Seeing that the stack of papers written on both front and back would eventually rival in quantity that of our amazing handbook, I simply gave it up.

I am not especially aware of any important misdirections however there is little doubt that our HWH handbook has fallen behind popular revisions for about 60 years now and it is not my intention to rewrite or add even one page to it myself. As archivist I do add new information and make small correctional notes in long hand along the spacious margins of our official copy now and again. That will help speed the process when a new edition is eventually prepared. This will be done by those happy souls who follow us. As Dux would most likely be old enough to attest, a new set of revised volumes comes out quite regularly every 100 years.

My friend, we certainly do not 'flip' 12-16 lb turkeys. The mess would be awful as well as painful. You must have a pot that is deep and wide enough to hold both the blistering hot cooking oil and the bird. And take it from me, you had better make damn sure of that in advance otherwise when you lower the bird into the oil that oil will instantly bubble up and might spill over. At that moment you and your fire department will have a beautiful recreation of the last eruption of Mt. Vesuvius complete with screams and ash.

Yes indeed, if anyone is serious about frying large birds, and unless they wish to make an...um... 'ash' of themselves, they should purchase a turkey cooker locally or through a mail order catalog that is made especially for that purpose and they should carefully follow all safety directions. Also, have a handy fire extinguisher nearby. Of course regular readers will know that C51 is not really interested in frying anything but Tofu. You do not fool me C51. Being of the Vegetarian Religion you would not eat anything that walked, swam or flapped about at any time. I on the other hand am happy to prepare and to eat both your portion of many and sundry critters plus that of my own...

One last but important admonition just for you C51. If you should decide to fry a turkey for those in your family that do enjoy good meat properly prepared, please be sure to kill and pluck the darn bird before dropping it into the hot oil....otherwise you will have quite a struggle on your hands and the end result may be most unpleasant for both you and the bird....

As mentioned, Thanksgiving Day is coming next week. We no longer feast on just deep fried turkey. As long time readers may remember, we always have a pig picking. My friends C51 and Dux, I would dearly love to introduce your sorely deprived taste buds to the succulent delights of eastern North Carolina barbecue. That being impossible because of all those tedious miles between us, I will do the best I can to eat enough for all of us. It is a generous thing to do to be sure but I can do no less for my friends.