Summer Fruit Pies July 8, 2008

“When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it’s not, mmmmmmmm, boy.” — Jack Handy

We had a few people over for a BBQ on Saturday, to celebrate my 40th birthday. My friend Steven came over on Friday to help me make some pies and cobblers.

This is what a good pie crust should look like. See those hunks of butter? That is what ensures a flaky crust.

The trick to a good pie crust is this: You don’t want to handle your pie crust too much and overincorporate your fats. Also, start with very cold (frozen even) fat. You don’t want it to melt while you are working the dough. The more the fats stay together, the more air pockets you will create — which creates the flakiness.

This pie crust is made with 1/2 cup of lard (Steven rendered it at home and brought it over) and 1 cup of butter (KerryGold Irish butter — from grass-fed cows). The only other ingredients are unbleached white flour, cold filtered water, a little salt and a little stevia.

It is essentially the recipe from Jeffrey Steingarten’s The Man Who Ate Everything. (Except I used stevia instead of sugar.) This is the recipe I have followed for years, and it comes out perfect — I mean perfect — every time. The first time you read the recipe, it is a little intimidating. It’s like 9 pages long! But once you learn how to do it, you will never use any other method.

We also brushed a little milk and egg yolk onto the tops of the pies to give them that nice golden brown tan.

Here’s the blueberry pie before we baked it:

And here’s the apple pie prior to baking:

Here’s the apple pie:

And here’s the apple cobbler:

Cobblers originated on the American frontier — when they were in the stage coaches traveling west — they could not roll out the pie dough so they had to be creative.

We used organic blueberries and organic Pink Lady apples (I prefer tart green Granny Smiths but I could not find any).

We used rapadura instead of sugar. For the apple pie, I added a little orange-flavored Armagnac that I smuggled back from my last trip to Paris. I did not add any cinnamon or nutmeg - just a little vanilla extract.

Here’s the blueberry pie out of the oven:

The blueberry pie was quite possibly the best pie I have ever tasted. I know, I’m being immodest. But it was!

We also made a cherry cobbler. Here it is before we baked it:

We used organic cherries, and rapadura instead of sugar. Plus some corn starch, a little lemon and vanilla extract. And a pinch of salt.

I didn’t make enough dough so this one’s a little short. But people ate it anyway.

It was really good with the rapadura. Not too sweet. You could really taste the fruit and it was not overpowered by sugar.

We also made raw homemade ice cream to go with the pies — made from Organic Pastures raw cream (from grass-fed cows), egg yolks, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Because how can you eat pie without ice cream?

Here’s Seth feeding Kate ice cream at the party:

Praise the Lard! July 1, 2008

I’m so excited! I came across this restaurant, Zarela, in New York City. It’s a Mexican restaurant that still uses lard. Real, home-rendered lard — not the gross toxic stuff they sell in stores (which Chef Zarela says is “poison”).

Not only that but they have all kinds of wonderful traditional dishes on the menu, things you will not find at most Mexican restaurants — like liver and pork shoulder and roasted duck:

Hígado Encebollado - Pan fried liver marinated in pickled jalapeño juice and Worcestershire sauce. Served with onions and bacon

Cochinita Pibíl - Yucatán-style pork shoulder marinated with achiote and sour oranges and slow cooked. Served in a banana leaf with a red onion, habanero chile and orange relish

Manchamanteles de Pato - Roasted half duck served with a tomato red chile sauce with dried apricots, prunes, raisins and pineapple.

We are definitely going when we are in New York City for vacation! I wonder if we can try her chicharones… they are not on the menu. I will have to ask.

Here’s a video with chef Zarela Martinez, showing how to render lard at home:

Look, Mom — No Cavities! April 8, 2008

I went to the dentist today. And guess what? No cavities!

This is the first time I’ve had no cavities in years. And you would think that I would be more prone to dental decay — considering the stress I’ve had on my body over the past year (childbirth, breast feeding).

Here’s the interesting thing… For the past six months, I have not used toothpaste. No fluoride.

My whole life I was told that you’re supposed to brush with fluoride toothpaste to prevent cavities. Yet I only used Tooth Soap and baking soda for brushing. Of course, I ate a very nutrient dense diet — cod liver oil, pastured eggs, raw milk, butter, cream, and cheese, and organ meats. I avoided sugar and any grains/nuts/seeds/legumes that were not soaked and/or sprouted.

But isn’t fluoride supposed to prevent cavities?

When I asked my dentist, Dr. Raymond Silkman, what he thought of fluoride, he responded with one word, “Bad.”

He’s probably the only dentist in Los Angeles who gives prescriptions like this: “Drink beet kvass and freshly juiced green vegetables and carrots — daily”. And he told me to get tested for heavy metals. He thinks I may have heavy metal toxicity. (Beet kvass and freshly juiced vegetables chelate heavy metals.)

But back to the fluoride… This Crest ad says that “Crest stops soft spots from turning into cavities.” Lies! Crest doesn’t do any such thing.

Here’s another lie:

Coke’s slogan proclaims it is the opposite of what it really is — a fake. For centuries, people have been producing naturally fermented soft drinks like kombucha, naturally fermented root beer, and ginger ale. These naturally fermented soft drinks are very high in B vitamins and probiotics — they are health tonics. Conversely, Coca Cola is artificially carbonated sugar water. Not only is it devoid of nutrition, but the sugar in it actually blocks the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body.

Of course, nowadays Coke doesn’t even have sugar — it’s made with high fructose corn syrup. Which is genetically modified corn soaked in battery acid. YUM!

Here’s an ad for sugar from the ’60s:

I love how transparent it is. Looking at it today, it’s so obvious. You can see the lies.

This is how you have to look at ads. Ads are made to convince you to buy. That is their sole purpose. They don’t care about you. And they don’t care about truth. They are often saying the very opposite of what is true.

Ads also prey on your fears and insecurities.

Here’s a Heinz baby food ad:

The message is based on the idea that real food is not safe, and only food in jars is safe for babies. See what I mean? It’s the opposite of the truth.

Of course, not all ads are bad… here’s a neutral one for iodized salt (iodized salt is not good for you — sea salt is best — but the iodine is something we need):

In the 1920s, with the depletion of the soil in America, people in the midwest started getting goiters due to iodine depletion. This prompted a campaign for iodized salt. Many Americans today are cutting down on salt — but there is a bigger problem today. Soy.

Soy is a goitrogen, which blocks the absorption of minerals, including iodine. Most Americans are deficient in iodine today — due to widespread consumption of soy foods.

Think you’re not eating soy? If you eat in restaurants, you are eating soy. If you eat processed or packaged foods, you are eating soy. Restaurants cook with soybean oil or vegetable oil — which is almost always cut with soybean oil. Most processed and packaged foods contain soybean oil and/or soy lecithin. All baby formulas (not just the soy formulas) contain soybean oil.

Here’s one I like — a French advertisement for cod liver oil:

This next one is not a real ad — it’s a spoof — but it’s great:

Too bad lard is so maligned today. It is such a healthy fat!

Lastly, here is my favorite — calling for a boycott of Kraft genetically modified foods:

Boycott Kraft Foods! Krafted: Genetically Krafted Foods

Does Eating Lard Prevent Wrinkles? January 24, 2008

Read an interesting article last night about how eating more good fat helps your body. I was particularly fascinated by this excerpt:

On a side note, I worked with a client from Mexico who was here visiting her daughter over the summer. The mother was 85 years old, very strong and healthy, and had not one wrinkle on her beautiful face. Her skin was incredible! It was so soft and silky, not at all dry, scaly or wrinkly like the skin I’m so used to seeing with most of my clients.

I just had to ask her what kind of fats she eats. Her daughter translated my question to her mother and then replied, “She said she eats mostly lard. I can’t believe it! I keep telling her that’s not good for her, but she just won’t listen!” Us silly Americans!

Twenty Ideas for Healthy New Year’s Resolutions December 30, 2007

Christmas is over.

We are still on vacation, though, visiting family. It’s cold in Seattle, but it’s wonderful to be with our family.

I’m thinking about goals for the new year.

1. My first goal is to lose the extra 30 pounds of baby weight by her one-year birthday, April 13th.

2. I also want to get all my finances and paperwork in order (nothing short of monumental).

3. And get out of debt. This one is totally do-able. (I mean for all my credit card debt. The student loans don’t count.) And once I’m out of debt, I get to start investing in real estate, which I am really excited about.

4. Spring cleaning — I want to sell all of the accumulated junk in the garage on eBay and the like.

Those are the main things. I have lots of other smaller goals. Like expanding my vegetable and herb garden and composting and making more of my household cleaners…

Here is my question to you… Do you have any New Year’s resolutions that are related to your health and the environment? No?

Maybe you could add one or two. Here are some simple things you can do that would make healthy and/or green resolutions for 2008…

1. Stop eating high fructose syrup. It’s industrial corn soaked in battery acid. Read the labels and stop eating this.

2. Use cloth shopping bags. You can get them for a coupla bucks at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. I take them with me everywhere in my car these days — and I even use them at Target.

3. Stop eating soy or vegetable oil. It causes heart disease and cancer. Cook with butter, lard, coconut oil, palm oil, and/or olive oil (make sure it’s real olive oil — not the faux olive oil you buy at Costco or Trader Joe’s).

4. Start taking probiotics. Take a supplement. Drink raw milk. Make your own kombucha or kefir or kvass or sauerkraut.

5. Use cloth diapers. It’s really not so hard. I made the switch; so can you. If you don’t know how to do it, email me and I’ll post all the tricks.

6. Limit bread and refined flour. If you want bread, eat any of the following kinds:

whole grain (like Mestemacher German rye breads: http://www.germandeli.com/mebr.html)
sprouted (like Ezekiel or Alvarado St. Bakery)
REAL sourdough bread
best of all, freshly milled, soaked and sprouted homemade whole grain bread.

7. Eat grass-fed beef and dairy products. Grain-fed cows are sickly and pumped full of antibiotics. Grass-fed cows live 3-4 times longer and live happy, full lives.

8. Eat raw dairy products — NOT pasteurized! Pasteurization exists mostly to mask bad milk from unhealthy cows. Buy raw dairy products from trusted dairy farms. They are healthier and much more nutritious, since they have all the enzymes and probiotics intact.

9. Make your own cleaning products. All you need is Borax, baking soda, white vinegar, some Dr. Bronner’s, some essential oils, and some citric acid. If you don’t want to make your own, buy the healthy kind at Whole Foods.

10. Try to buy local. Is it really necessary to buy that foodstuff that comes from New Jersey when you live in San Diego? Think about all the miles traveled, all the wasted gas and energy. Buy local for the environment.

11. Join a CSA. It’s great to buy organic produce but when you join a CSA, you are actually making a pledge to the farm. Letting them know that they can count on you to support them for the next season. I believe everyone in America should be supporting a local farm through a CSA subscription. To find a CSA near you, go to http://www.localharvest.org.

12. Start taking cod liver oil. Dr. Oz called it the supplement that everyone should take. I agree. Not only does it prevent osteoporosis but it also prevents — and even reverses — cavities. I started my baby on cod liver oil when she was 5 months old. (Not all cod liver oil is the same. We buy ours here: http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/)

13. Avoid genetically modified foods. Yes, this means most packaged and processed foods. You should give them up anyway because most of them contain soy oil and high fructose corn syrup and other toxic crap you don’t want in your body.

14. Buy non-Monsanto seeds. See my blogroll to the right for sources of seeds that are not tampered with by Monsanto.

15. Eat more organ meats. Don’t like liver and onions? Have some foie gras. Or take cod liver oil and desiccated liver tablets. But make sure you get your organs.

16. Stop eating soy. It’s an endocrine distrupter and seriously messes up your thyroid. It can make you infertile. Stop now.

17. Make bone broths. Beef broth, chicken broth, fish broth. Simmer in a big stockpot and freeze for later use. This is one of the healthiest things you can do.

18. Reuse and recycle. Don’t throw away plastic yogurt containers. Or glass mayonnaise jars. Or paper bags. Reuse them for something else. And recycle everything you can.

19. Stop brushing with toothpaste. The fluoride and glycerin are giving you cavities. Use Tooth Soap or Dr. Bronner’s — or sea salt.

20. Filter your water using a reverse-osmosis water filtering system.

Enough for now. That should give you some ideas. (The ones on this list that I have not done yet I am committed to doing in the new year.)

Sally Fallon on Fats and Why They are Essential December 21, 2007

Fascinating interview with Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation on essential fatty acids and why saturated fats are critical to good health.

Also how good saturated fats like butter, lard, duck and goose fat, and coconut and palm oil were driven out of the marketplace by corporations profiting off of soybean oil:

http://www.metrofarm.com/assets/podcasts/2007-12-01_567dfat.mp3

Not a woman's holiday November 21, 2007

Leaf lard rendered and cooled - CHECK
Giblet stock made and cooled - CHECK
Turkey in brine - CHECK
Pie dough made - CHECK
Pumpkins roasting in oven - CHECK
Porcini mushrooms soaking in water - CHECK
Table set (OK well not totally but the plates, cloth napkins, candles and silverware are out) - CHECK
Seth sufficiently cocktailed and ordering Indian food delivery - CHECK

Am taking short and very well-deserved break with glass of rose.

Whew!

Now I only have the following things to do:

Pump breast milk (sorry if that's TMI, but it's on the list)
Chop celery, onion, leek, garlic, bacon, et al (hello Cuisinart!) and sautee
Chop porcini and sausage and sautee
Combine with bread crusts and bake stuffing (reserving some to stuff turkey with — I'm flying blind on how much to reserve — I'll follow my intuition)
Roll out pie crusts and blind bake
Remove pumpkin from oven, let cool and make pumpkin pie filling
Peel, core and slice apples and make apple pie filling
Bake pies (yes, tonight!)
Make homemade ice cream
Pump breast milk again
Go to bed
Get up at 4:30 am and take the turkey out of the fridge, drain, and let sit out
Go back to bed!
Get up at 6 am with This Lady, change her, nurse her
Melt butter, mix with a bottle of white wine, and soak cheese cloth in mixture
Put cheesecloth on the turkey and get the bird in the oven NO LATER THAN 7 am!
Baste and watch turkey like hawk over the next 6.5 hours
Make gravy
Find something to serve the gravy in (??? I don't own a gravy boat)
Set the table for real
Find all the serving utensils (who knows where they are?)
Shower and dress, brush teeth
Put out tray of cheese, crackers, pickles and olives
What am I forgetting? Something I'm sure. ARGH!

Are you exhausted yet?

I think our lovely Alla was right. She said, shaking her head, “This is not a woman's holiday.”

I love the wisdom and the sweet morose nature of the Russian people.

Seth is playing me the album he recorded in 1992. It's really good! This is the first time I've heard it. I'm IMPRESSED. Holy crap it's good. It's De La Soul meets Public Enemy meets Cibo Matto (or maybe Fantastic Plastic Machine) meets Lou Reed meets the Beastie Boys. He even covers a song by Hank Williams, “My Love For You Has Turned to Hate”.

He's brilliant. Seriously, I would have bought this album if it had ever gone on sale. I think everyone would have. It's that good.

This is why I love him. Among so many other reasons. What a brilliant man he is.

Lard and giblet stock success! November 20, 2007

I know, I know, I gotta go to bed. 6 am wake up call, yes, yes, I know.

But I just have to tell you that the stock I made is absolutely unbelievable. SO rich and gorgeous. It smells amazing and it tastes so luxurious and big — just one step down from foie gras. It is going to make the BEST gravy and stuffing.

And the lard looks excellent too! Not that I really know what lard should look like. But it seemed OK to me.

Both were strained and cooled enough to pour into glass, and are now in containers chilling in the fridge. Whew!

Finally, good night!

Leaf lard, turkey giblet stock, and a German meal made by a Russian November 20, 2007

Tonight, for the first time in my life, I rendered lard.

It was pretty easy!

Actually I'm not quite done yet. It's still on the stove, melting in the cast iron skillet (this is the best way to do it so I've read — because it has the added advantage of seasoning the skillet). When it's as melted as it's gonna get, I need to strain it and cool it. Not sure how long it will take to fully melt — we shall see. If it's not done before I go to bed, I'll stick it in the oven on low heat overnight.

It needs to be very cold by tomorrow night however, so I can get my pie crusts made in time. I may just strain it tonight.

I followed this recipe:

http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/2006_01_01_blog-archive.html#113709378997673043

I also made turkey giblet stock — from the lungs and heart and liver and gizzards (secondary stomachs). It is also still simmering on the stove. The stock will be going into the stuffing and the gravy.

Here's the recipe I used for the stock.

Anyway, turkey giblets are incredibly good for you. Simmering them in water (with vegetables and herbs) turns all those nutrients into a very concentrated broth. Extremely nutritious!

Alla (our nanny) stayed late to help me with the stock and the lard, not to mention the laundry. I didn't wnat her driving home yet anyway because the traffic was HIDEOUS. I guess people were out driving around to get things for Thanksgiving — or maybe they were leaving to go out of town. I don't know what they were doing but they were ALL out there, clogging up every street and highway. UGH!

After she helped me with the stock and the lard, Alla helped me with the dishes and whipped up some dinner. “You're nursing!” she implored. “You need to eat!”

So she boiled some cauliflower (from my CSA box) and then rolled it in raw egg and then cooked it in butter. I ate that with Bratwurst (also prepared by Alla) and my homemade sauerkraut, and a bottle of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. So delicious! And very healthy. All organic, with lots of good fat and probiotics.

I must go to bed now. I have my 6 am wake-up call from This Lady. And tomorrow I have to get everything ready for Thanksgiving: bake pies, make homemade ice cream, set the table, assemble everything mis en place in the kitchen (there are a thousand details that go into this stuffing — it's a recipe from Martha after all), and brine the turkey. Plus fifteen other things (phone calls, etc.) that I need to do for Seth.

Good night! Oh, wait, I have to go strain the lard and the stock. OK, good night in a little while!

PS: I also ordered my kombucha baby today. I can't wait to get it and start making kombucha! I also ordered some fil mjolk (Swedish culture that makes something similar to buttermilk), kefir grains, sourdough starter, and various other things like cheesecloth and lids for my mason jars.

PS2: The sauerkraut, as mentioned, has come out very well.

The pickles taste fine (well two of the jars did — one tasted off so I dumped it). They are not QUITE as crunchy as I'd like them (I couldn't get my hands on any grape leaves) however they are still good. But I'm going to give them a few more days.

The papaya chutney tastes pretty good — I think I'll refrigerate it in the next day or two (refrigeration stops the fermenting).

The orange marmalade was a miserable failure.

OK really I must go now and strain and cool my potions (that is what Seth calls them) so I can go to bed!

Leaf Lard and Tooth Soap November 16, 2007

I just got my leaf lard. It was sitting on the front porch in a styrofoam box, along with the bacon and sausage and bratwurst I ordered. Woo hoo! All pesticide- and antibiotic- and hormone-free.

I also got a book in the mail from Amazon: “Wild Fermentation” by Sandor Ellix Katz. It has recipes for kombucha and sourdough bread and hard cider and ginger beer — etc.

You can't call me a hippie because, although I do not vaccinate my child and I make kombucha and I happen to brush my teeth with soap, I do order LEAF LARD and SAUSAGE on the internet and have it shipped in STYROFOAM (evil styrofoam) to my house. Hippies don't eat leaf lard and they do not buy things packed in styrofoam! So there!

Oops. I forgot to mention the Tooth Soap.

Tooth Soap is another crazy hippie thing I found online. It's essentially an amber glass jar full of what looks like grated cheese — only it's grated saponified coconut, palm, and olive oil — perfumed with a dash of essential oil.

The thing is this — they say that the glycerin in toothpaste (ALL toothpaste — even the fancy natural stuff like Tom's) is counterproductive when it comes to helping your teeth remineralize.

Have I mentioned the remineralization of teeth? No? OK I promise to post about that later. Right now I gotta go to bed.

Turkey and leaf lard November 6, 2007

I just ordered a pound of leaf lard.

Those of you who have been following my food travails are probably thinking to yourself, “LARD!? She's finally cracked.”

But for those of you who know me well, you know I am fanatical about making a good pie crust. And my extensive research and hard work has paid off. People always ask for seconds and thirds of my pies. They have even told me that the crust is actually even better than the pie filling.

For years I have used Jeffery Steingarten's rendition of Marion Cunningham's crust (see “Pies from Paradise” in the book, “The Man Who Ate Everything”). He recommends a combination of butter and lard for the fat. You can also use butter and shortening — which I have commonly done. I have also very often used just butter which is also great.

I never felt good about the shortening. And now, after doing all of this research on good vs. bad fats, it turns out that shortening is one of the very worst things you can put in your gullet.

And it turns out that lard is pretty good for you! Even the (relatively) conservative NY Times says so: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12kummer.html Food & Wine touts it, too:http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/lard-the-new-health-food

And there are zillions of other articles on the internet promoting the health benefits of lard, like this one: http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/article/3378/trans-fatty-acids.html

Who knew?

It also just so happens that lard is also the baker's top choice for pie crust. And best of all: leaf lard. According to Wikipedia: “The highest grade of lard, known as leaf lard, is obtained from the 'flare' fat deposit surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin.”

Gourmet pastry chefs and pastry aficionados reserve their highest praise for leaf lard. Again, in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/dining/15crus.html?ref=dining

I wanted to use it years ago when I first read about it (in some foodie book) but I didn't know where to find it. I think the author of the book said you could only find it in Asian community butcher shops. God bless the internet.

Needless to say I am switching over to leaf lard. Just as soon as my shipment arrives!

Here's where I got my leaf lard: http://www.sweet-briar-farms.com/

Meanwhile, I'm pondering what kind of turkey to buy for Thanksgiving. Turns out it is not such an easy decision.

Read this and your head will spin with all the options: http://www.ethicurean.com/2006/11/15/gobble-gobble-a-turkey-primer-and-resource-guide/

Organic vs. free range vs. antibiotic-free vs. heritage?

Here's the skinny (scroll to the bottom of the page for the chart): http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/meats/turkey-talk.asp

Cook's Illustrated did a piece this month on which turkey to buy. I normally trust Cook's implicitly. They are foodies to the core, and base their findings on empirical results from taste tests. However, I should have known something was amiss when I read the title of the article: “Should You Pay Top Dollar for Turkey?” The subtitle is even more alarming: “Turkey is pretty bland, so why pay $100 for a mail-order bird when supermarket options cost less than $2 a pound?”

My first reaction: Who's the cheapskate who wrote this article? I try not to base food buying decisions on cost. I base them on taste. I'd rather eat top quality filet mignon once a week than cheap steaks every night. But OK, I'll give it a chance.

They recommended Aaron's Best first. It is kosher, which means they kill the animal more humanely. But it doesn't say anything about organic, cage-free, or antibiotic-free.

However, Aaron's was tied with Walter's Hatchery Heritage Breed. http://www.walterspoultry.com/whyheritage.html

Looks like they are pastured/free range but I can't find any information about it. They are not organic. According to a website I found, they say “organic grain is prohibitively expensive”. Prohibitively expensive and yet they sell their turkeys for $7.14 per pound plus shipping? Hmmpphh. I would not eat one of those birds because he feeds them soy. Yuck. Soy-based grain is a no no. I could go on about the dangers of soy but just go ahead and google it. Also can't find out if they give their birds antibiotics. I'm betting they do.

Cook's tested a few brands of organic, pastured turkeys — and none of them did well. They did OK, but not better than Butterball. What Cook's DOESN'T tell you is the health risks associate with eating a Butterball turkey.

Sure, I might save a few bucks buying that brand, and it may taste a bit more tender and buttery - but do you know what they do to it to make it taste like that? Do you know how those turkeys are raised?

Turkeys raised on factory farms are hatched in large incubators and never see their mothers or feel the warmth of a nest. When they are only a few weeks old, they are moved into filthy, windowless sheds with thousands of other turkeys, where they will spend the rest of their lives. To keep the birds from killing one another in such crowded conditions, parts of the turkeys’ toes and beaks are cut off, as are the males’ snoods (the flap of skin under the chin). All this is done without any pain relievers—imagine having the skin under your chin chopped off with a pair of scissors. Millions of turkeys don’t even make it past the first few weeks of life in a factory farm before succumbing to “starve-out,” a stress-induced condition that causes young birds to simply stop eating.

By far the best-selling turkeys in the U.S. are the mass-produced, factory-farmed birds—Butterball, etc.—sold in supermarkets. Almost exclusively broad-breasted whites—a breed that’s also referred to as “large white” because of the size of its breast—these birds are typically raised in factory conditions, sometimes thousands to a barn, and may be treated with growth hormones to enhance their size and antibiotics to prevent disease. The birds tend to be raised quickly, in about twelve weeks, which yields a large and inexpensive supply but doesn’t allow the birds’ flavor to develop fully. Many factory-farmed birds are injected during processing with a solution that might contain water, stock, butter, or other seasonings to make the bird plumper, and more flavorful. That process produces a large bird that cooks up moist and tender, but it can also produce off-flavors and a mushy texture. Factory-farmed birds range in size anywhere from 8 to 28 pounds (one pound per person is a good serving guideline) and tend to be inexpensive—$1.50 or so per pound. (http://www.hurryburry.com/turkey.htm)

Yuck! Antibiotics and growth hormones! I will definitely not be purchasing that variety. Who wants a sick turkey pumped full of antibiotics and hormones that cause early-onset puberty in children?

Not I, said the duck.

Not I, said the cat.

Not I, said the dog.

It has to be organic (no pesticides) and pastured (much more nutritious).

Why are pastured birds better for you?

A study sponsored by the Department of Agriculture in 1999, for example, found that pastured chickens have 21 percent less fat, 30 percent less saturated fat, 50 percent more vitamin A and 400 percent more omega-3 fatty acids than factory-raised birds. They also have 34 percent less cholesterol. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/opinion/23barber.html?pagewanted=all (this is a great article BTW — well worth reading)

400% more omega-3 fatty acids! Plus no antibiotics or growth hormones. Plus you can go to sleep at night knowing that you ate a turkey that lived a happy life.

Is it worth the extra few bucks? I'd say so.

I think I'm going to go with Mary's Turkeys. Free-range, antibiotic-free, organic, and heritage (if available). I regularly buy Mary's chicken from Whole Foods and it tastes GREAT.

The organic turkeys sell for $2-3 per pound (a little more expensive than Aaron's Best) and the heritage birds sell for $4-6 per pound (cheaper than Walters Hatchery).

http://www.marysturkeys.com/art.%20Business%20Week.htm

They're based in Fresno and they sell their turkeys at Whole Foods. I'm going to go see if I can reserve one in time.

http://www.marysturkeys.com/

UPDATE: I found out that Mary’s does clip beaks.