Nancy Young wrote:

> I guess there is a lot of waste on a turkey, such as the carcass and
> the back, the mystery packet which you might or might not use to
> make gravy, like that. And if you have people fighting over the dark
> meat, or vice versa, you might want plenty of both. Just a thought.

That is a good thought. Personally, I don't think there is enough dark meat on a
turkey. My wife was delighted to have turkey dinners in my parents house because,
like me, she loves dark meat, and everyone else prefers breast meat. Her family
was the exact opposite, with most people preferring the dark meat.

I suppose that since turkey has become a traditional feast meal, you do want to
make sure that you have lots. And then there are the leftovers. Most people seem to
like them more than I do. I am good for turkey once every few months, one meal with
it re heated with gravy or in Turkey Divine, and then one or turkey sandwiches.
After that, I am fed up with turkey and don't want to even see one for a few
months. Having our Thanksgiving in early October instead of late November gives me
that longer stretch to get over my last turkey binge.
I guess I should also account for messing up the carving :-) That's where I fall
down on turkey presentation. I can do the stuffing, put the bird into the oven and
cook it to perfection, take it out and and let it sit while I make the stuffing.
But for the life of me I cannot carve a turkey, or a chicken, without making a mess
of it.

The last time one I did was a little better than previous attempts. I followed the
advice of one of the TV chefs, carefully removing the breast and then slicing
across, as opposed to lateral slices. It was a little more presentable than usual.

As for the bag of mystery meat.... I do not make giblet gravy. I used to give them
to the dogs and cats. The current dogs do not get turkey in any way shape or form
due to one of them having had a horrendous accident on our kitchen flour after
eating turkey. If someone is taking the carcass to make turkey soup (not my
favourite) they get the neck too.