The Upside Down Turkey

Before we begin, I must first apologize to my lovely daughter. This story is about her, and while it may at first seem a Greek Tragedy from the writing of Sophocles, himself, it is, in fact a story of humor, sadness and ultimately, life.

For Mother's Day this year, my daughter invited the whole family over to her apartment for a turkey dinner - her first. Meaning, the first one that she cooked herself. Of course, as any new bride (she's only been married 11 months - and some few days), she was nervous of the outcome.

Never having cooked a turkey before, she wanted lots of advice - not from Mom, but from me. Not because I am a consummate turkey-cooker, but because she didn't want to pester Mom on her day. I'm okay with that. After all, I have cooked a few birds in my life.

When we arrived at her apartment at the appointed time, my daughter's voice called from the kitchen, "Dad, can you come check my turkey for me?" When I entered the kitchen she said, "I've had it cooking for almost four hours, but I don't know if it's done yet."

I lifted the top off the counter-top roaster and looked in. The bird was still white! "Ummm, Sis?" I began, "What temperature do you have this set on?"

"I don't know for sure; the knob's broken off."

"Okay. Uh, this bird is nowhere close to being done."

"Are you serious?" She cried in dismay. "What am I going to do?"

"Let's see if we can turn up the temperature and get it cooked," I replied. I grabbed some pliers (the knob connector was hot) and turned the temperature up considerably.

"It was supposed to be done when everyone got here," she said dejectedly. "Now everything else is going to be cold, and everyone is starving, and..."

"Hold, on," I interrupted. "Let's just see how it turns out. Besides, it will give everyone a chance to visit for a while."

In just a few minutes, the smell of a cooking turkey filled her home.  After about an hour, I checked it again, and sure enough, the skin was a golden brown. "Is it done?" my daughter asked anxiously.

"It looks like it," I responded, looking all over the bird for the pop-up timer. Not finding one, I asked, "Do you have a meat thermometer?"

"No. Now what?"

"Well, did this turkey come with a pop-up timer? Because I don't see it."

"It's on the bottom."

Suddenly I realized why the entire turkey looked funny (odd) - which I didn't want to mention to my daughter for fear of hurting her feelings. The turkey was upside-down!

"Uh, it's upside down," I told her.

"Are you serious?!?" she wailed, loud enough that everyone in the house heard her.

"What's wrong?" asked her mother.

"I put the stupid turkey in upside down!" my daughter cried, running into my wife's arms.

"Oh dear," my wife said. "That's okay. I'm sure there's plenty of food for us."

I thought to myself, "Well, I might as well carve it up. I might be able to salvage some of the meat."

I pulled the bird out of the pan, and the breast looked... well, like the back of most other turkeys look - sort of wet and slimy. I put it on the cutting board and starting with the legs, I started to carve the meat. Now, you can't just carve a turkey without sampling here and there. Almost without thinking, I popped a morsel of dark meat into my mouth. HOLY COW! It was AWESOME! The flavor was wonderful. Whatever seasoning she had used was fantastic. The breast was moist, flavorful and delicious in every way.


I called her in. She entered the kitchen, shoulders slumped, head down with a look of total defeat on her face. "Now what?" she asked sadly.


"Here," I said, handing her a piece, "taste this."


"Why?" she asked as she put the morsel in her mouth. No sooner than it had touched her taste buds, her head snapped up, her eyes grew wide and she exclaimed in quiet awe, "Wow! That's good!"


"I know," I said. "Well done. Well done, indeed!"


Her turkey, although not presentable as a picture perfect bird, was one of the juiciest and tastiest that I have ever eaten. All who were privileged to partake of that meal were well satisfied and heaped praises on my daughter - which she richly deserved.


And here is the miracle. In life we all have turkeys that we have to deal with. Some we conquer and know within ourselves that we are triumphant. Others, however, we feel have conquered us and we want to turn away, head down and shoulders slumped.


Often, it is just seeing it through to the end that makes all the difference in the world. Had we just thrown my daughter's turkey out because of a few mistakes along the way, we would have missed out on a wonderful feast. Fix your eye unblinking on the outcome you desire, and often, although it may not be as planned, you will enjoy the success you desire.