Better With Bacon

It's almost sacrilegious, but every year I contemplate breaking from tradition and leaving out the turkey from our Thanksgiving feast. I know, I know, I hear it every year: "But Moooom, you HAVE to have a turkey on Thanksgiving!" What kind of American am I without a Turkey-day Turkey? I mean, there are charities in place whose sole purpose is to provide a turkey dinner to people who cannot otherwise afford it. Leaving it out is almost as crazy of an idea as us Southerners forgoing black eyed peas and rice on New Year's Day....almost.

But, you see, no one in the house likes turkey. Not even the kids who tell me yearly we must have one. Don't get me wrong, it is not that any of us hates turkey. We don't turn out heads in disgust when we see it on the table. Admittedly, we even like some of the left overs. It's just that, if given the choice, ANY.OTHER.MEAT.WOULD.BE.BETTER! (With the exception, for the kids, of fish.)

And every year I think I should add something new to the table in hopes that it will fill the Turkey void when I finally take the plunge and exercise my right as house chef of creating the perfect Thanksgiving Day menu sans Turkey. Last year, I made Cornish Game Hen in hopes that the novelty of everyone having their own little bird would do the trick. Somehow, because of how "cute" they were, it did not.

So, while talking about Thanksgiving to my physical therapist as he bruised my leg up yet again, he casually mentioned knowing someone who made Bacon Wrapped Turkey.

Wait. A. Minute! HOLD THE PHONE!

The fireworks in my head were exploding: "Well DUH! Everything is made better with bacon!"

Breakfast? Better with bacon.
Burgers? Bacon!
BLT? NOT EVEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT BACON!

And so, this year, while we give thanks that Lilly is nut-allergy free and we fill our house with pecan pies rather than epi-pens (I plan to force feed her Pecan Pie and Yams with Pecan Crumble Topping and Cranberry Salad with a Side of Pecans JUST BECAUSE I CAN!) we will be attempting to liven up the old Thanksgiving Turkey tradition with a huge HUG of BACON. Worse case scenario, we still don't eat the turkey, we enjoy a big plate of crispy bacon, and we can blame Rusty* for something other than the bruises on my leg! Win-win! (Thanks for that, Rusty!)

[[[And here is where you have to imagine a picture of the pre-cooked, Bacon-Hugged-Turkey.....apparently I am out of free storage space on Google....I'll post pics once I figure it out.]]]

May your Thanksgiving be Happy, with or without the bacon!

*Full disclosure: I completed an 8 mile run today, with mile four pretty much entirely uphill and into a strong headwind and I only slowed to an 8-min pace......While I cannot yet vouch for his recipe suggestions, Rusty, from OSR (physical therapy) obviously knows what he is doing and I would highly recommend him to anyone with physical therapy needs**.....No, I don't get a referral fee.....Yes, I am actually being nice.....Make sure you tell him I sent ya..... Actually, on second thought, you probably shouldn't.....

**Disclaimer: While there COULD be fear of retribution if my opinions were not what they are, I promise my opinions are very much my own......seriously.

Happy Thanksgiving!