Sorry to be so slow on answering but, yes! Sweet Providence Farm will be offering the fresh, local, real Christmas trees and wreaths that they’ve grown to be famous for once again this year at Tanglewood.

See you there!
-David Maren
http://www.TenderGrassFarm.com
http://www.SweetProvidenceFarm.com/
http://www.RoanokeChristmasTrees.com/

Let me try again – Folks, back in the good old days, we all knew our grocer, and even our butcher. Yes, you could actually talk to the person who prepped your animal protein back then.

I would STRONGLY encourage you to try one of these birds before Thanksgiving – just make turkey casserole or sandwiches with it, if you wish.

I would also strongly encourage you to get to know the folks providing you your animal protein, by talking to them. Heck, act dumb & ask questions, or act smart & ask questions. Just talk to them, and you’ll feel SO much better about where you buy your food, it’s amazing.

Life’s not always about factory production lines, even in food. These birds are worth the effort.

What I meant was that when cooking a turkey that is not so disproportionately skewed towards a huge breast, but is instead proportional, the cooking times might mean a difference of a couple of minutes per pound or so.

In deep frying, instead of 4 minutes per pound, you could go three minutes per pound. In baking, instead of 20 minutes per pound, you could go 18 minutes per pound. The times mentioned are just wild estimates and an attempt to clarify my single comment in a lengthy post.

Hope I didn’t freak anybody. As Lindsey says, the difference is extremely similar. To me, the example I gave is like cooking in a different oven, sometimes a change of a few degrees needs to be made to equalize the process.

They’re more expensive, yes, but there’s a reason most people say that the best part of Thanksgiving is the sides….it’s because the turkey is not good. Get one of these birds and the main dish will be as popular as the dressing and sweet potato casseroles.

If you buy a local turkey, the handling and cooking experience is not going to be a whole lot different than when you buy a grocery store bird. Everything is trimmed up and clean just as it is for the grocery store. Except if you get a fresh local turkey, you don’t have to wait for it to thaw out!

Let me say this as a way of coaxing people into trying a ‘heritage bird’. Here’s the deal – a lot of pasture fed, or organically raised, turkeys are indeed not like the huge Butterball breasted turkeys that seem to be about 75% white meat. That does NOT mean they aren’t good.

Heritage birds are just as tender, moist, flavorful as the Butterball clone turkeys. They’re just a little different. It’s like the difference in a ribeye steak and a sirloin steak. That’s all.

So here’s what you can do, to ease your anxiety about possibly ‘messing up’ Thanksgiving. Go to the web site, or to the local grocers or the farmers’ market. Buy one of their turkeys BEFORE late November. Buy one now, and ask the folks about how to best cook the bird. There’s not much difference, but the conversation helps educate you about the whole deal. In fact, cook one of these turkeys in September, another a little different way in October, and by November, you’ll be ready to rock & roll on Thanksgiving.

Facebook, Twitter, other ‘social media’ are the inexpensive way to go in advertising these days. A ‘brick & mortar’ store requires a lot of capital and manpower, often for limited results.

Best of luck to Sweet Providence in their future, people really should give them a try!