Thursday, July 5, 2007

A turkling, you know, a baby turkey

To celebrate the 4th of July, Chris and I went to see fireworks with some family. We arrived to scope out a spot around 8:00 even though it wouldn't be dark enough for the show to start until about 10:00. Since we had about 2 hours to kill, we just sat around catching up. The conversation eventually turned to food (as it often does) and Chris mentioned how much he enjoyed turkey at Thanksgiving and how we should buy a turkey sometime soon and make it for dinner. Chris loves turkey and lately, he talks about "getting a turkey for dinner" all the time as thought it were approximately the same amount of work as a bucket of KFC. "It is just the two of us" I said, "How in the heck are we going to polish off a turkey?" With a knowing look on his face, Chris announces "I can make you turkey sandwiches every day and pack them in your lunch. Also, we can make turkey pot pie, and turkey stew and...

At this point I think it would be helpful to explain my three point Thanksgiving philosophy:
1. I love turkey at Thanksgiving.

2. Thanksgiving is only once a year for a reason, namely, you are only supposed to eat Turkey once a year.

3. After that , I don't want to see it (turkey) again for another whole year, no exceptions, including leftovers

.
... and turkey burgers and turkey..."
I interrupted Chris: "Stop. Please repeat my Thanksgiving philosophy Chris"
Chris moans dramatically and puts his hand to his head. "But I looooooooove turkey. What if we didn't have any leftovers, what if we got, like, I dunno, a turkling?"
"A turklinkg?" I inquire incredulously.
"Yeah" he says, "A turkling, you know, a baby turkey"

I look at the other people sitting with us, being family, they have come to expect this sort of, um, linguistic creativity, from him. I have too, although the frequency of these events still amazes me. You would think eventually he would run out of strange, made-up names but he never does.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You still haven't come up with the actual name for a baby turkey so you should not mock.... Turkling is perfect.... Any one know what a baby turkey is called neither of us do?

Estee said...

I know this one!! A baby turkey is called a poult. It is in one of Breuklyn's animal books. I have to say that I really think Brad and Chris would be great friends. Just yesterday as we sat on our picnic table and watched the fireworks Brad says, "You know... it is about 4 months away from Thanksgiving. We really should practice our Thanksgiving dinner skills." Oh yes, we do this every year. The man needs a pre-Thanksgiving dinner, sometimes two throughout the year. Considering that last year I cooked the turkey upside down, maybe I do need the practice! :) I hope you guys had a great 4th of July!!!!

Anonymous said...

A poult is a terrible name I am not sure who decided on this name for such a cute (in Chris' case delicious) animal but I am with Chris. Turkling is much better and sounds more edible! LOL... I do it all the time, when I don't like a word I make one up that fits better. Pretty soon Chris and I will have our own version of Websters' called Rachris' you know like the book of mormon it is a companion to the dictionary!

Anonymous said...

Yeah Rachel!

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of the "Thanksgiving Song" where Adam Sandler proclaims "Turkey for me, and turkey for you, I like to eat the turkey in a turkey stew...."

I think you should have a turkling dinner. Maybe that can be our end of summer department cook out?

Estee said...

Come on now... a snorkeling mask is perfectly appropriate kitchen attire. I see absolutely no problem with it!!!

Now... there must be something entertaining going on at your house!!

Anonymous said...

OMG! I thought I'd GOOGLE "turkling" and I found this post! We laughed a few weeks back when we found a "mamma turkey" and her little one...which I quickly called "turkling" - it has become a bit of an inside joke as I've told the story to others.

Isn't it a "duckling" for Ducks? and a "gosling" for Geese? so why not a "turkling" for Turkey? I like it and I'm sticking to it!
-DMA