Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Sunday, November 11. 2012

How much turkey per person? (re-posted)

At last count, we have 32 people, friends and family, coming for Thanksgiving. Ages 4 to 86.


It's a partay! I usually do 2 large turkeys, but was wondering if I needed 3. How Much Turkey Per Person? Use This Rule of Thumb


I like leftovers more than I like the first go-round, and I just like a little bit of turkey to go with my main deal of mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry relish, and gravy.


 Which reminds me, I need to get out and buy up my annual supply of fresh cranberries. 10 bags, at least. Perhaps corner the New England market for cranberries, and make out like George Soros. I freeze them whole and use them year round.

Posted by Bird Dog in Food and Drink at 12:22 | Comments (11) | Trackbacks (0)

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Cook three. You can always send extra turkey home with your guests. It also gives you more dark meat for those who prefer it. There is nothing worse than having guests fight over turkey scraps.
#1 KF on 2011-11-18 13:34 (Reply)
We fried two turkeys for a wedding event with friends. There were about 25 people present, and both turkeys were in the 13-lb range. It wasn't enough. Two 15-lb birds would have been better, but that's tricky with my fryer; it was really made for 14-lb and below birds.

I was last in line, and sadly, there was no turkey for me. I did manage to scarf up some of the crispy skin, though. The used fryer oil got the bonfire going really well.
#2 Gordon on 2011-11-18 13:54 (Reply)
Youngest of nine here, with many nieces and nephews, in-laws, outlaws, etc.. As we've spread out it's not as big a gathering as it once was, but once upon a time 30 for Thanksgiving and we look around and wonder where everybody went. We once had a gust up to 150....

Two big turkeys (20 pounds plus). But add a 20 pound ham to the mix and you're good to go. Then the next night (Thanksgiving is a multi-day affair for us), make a big pot of chow mein with leftover turkey... Just like the pilgrims...
#3 Tom Armstrong on 2011-11-18 16:49 (Reply)
It is not unusual to have 40 for our large family gatherings. We often have 2 smaller turkeys and a spiral sliced ham. Cooking is spread around the different families and brought to the gathering. We like our leftovers, too.
I see I am not the only one who buys up cranberries to use throughout the year. I like to make a chutney to freeze for later use.
#4 Ruth H on 2011-11-18 19:13 (Reply)
When we still ate turkey at Christmas, we found a single decent sized bird can feed a family of 4 for about a week, call it 5 days of Christmas sized meals.

That's 20 portions for your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, half of them child sized portions.
For 32 people then, 2 largish birds should be plenty unless maybe all are very large eaters.
#5 J.T. Wenting on 2011-11-18 23:53 (Reply)
Each person should be able to gobble up a half pound or so.
#6 PacRim Jim (Link) on 2011-11-19 02:28 (Reply)
Bob and Ray interviewed a NJ cranberry grower who was surprised cranberries could be used with turkey. He'd been selling it for cranberry shortcake and had very low sales.

What else can it be used for, he wondered. Can it be used to make glass?
#7 rhhardin (Link) on 2012-11-11 12:48 (Reply)
I need to get my pie pumpkins going. Cranberries are short supply here in Tennessee (except for the frozen variety) so we go with the fresh pumpkin pies. Or Sweet Potato pie. Yum!
#8 Sheryl Bryant on 2012-11-11 13:33 (Reply)
Costco sells 3 lb bags of cranberries. I neglected to freeze any last year, much to my chagrin. This year I'm going to try to make cranberry liqueur though my timing is off to have it ready for TG. Recipe says to let it "steep" for three weeks.
Bog fruit forever!
#9 BlogDog on 2012-11-11 15:48 (Reply)
OK, BlogDog, willing to share the cranberry liqueur recipe?
#10 Archer2010 on 2012-11-11 18:40 (Reply)
For me the secret is to make an excellent turkey gravy; creamy buttery mashed potatoes; and a rich mouth watering stuffing. You would be suprised how little actual turkey is needed when the side dishes are so good...
#11 GoneWithTheWind on 2012-11-13 15:54 (Reply)

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