Butterball conjures farm memories and ‘Thaw Thursday’
Thanksgiving 2020 ranks as an extra special family holiday memory.
It was our first gathering around the farm kitchen table together after so many months separated because of the social distancing requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, it was a return to our more usual family dinner holiday, as will be the same family feasting scene again this year, reminiscent of the TV series “The Waltons,” which happens to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first airing on CBS.
Another tradition I’ve enjoyed for the past 30 years of writing about food and recipes is my annual chat with the folks from the fabled Butterball Turkey Talk-Line.
They always remind me to alert my readers and radio listeners that this week, on Thursday, Nov.
17, is designated as “Thaw Thursday.” For all of the frozen turkeys awaiting roasting on Thanksgiving Day the following week, it’s time to change your turkey’s scenery from the frozen food tundra of the deep freeze and transition to the refrigerator to allow plenty of time for proper and safe thawing.
On my Thursday weekly radio show on WJOB, broadcast from its Hammond studios, I’ll be chatting on air with one of the dedicated Turkey TalkLine gals to honor “Thaw Thursday,” answering caller questions and giving away vouchers to win your own Butterball turkey just in time to start thawing. Butterball also now offers a fresh full-size turkey option too in local grocery stores.
For our farm holidays, throughout the years, we have roasted fresh turkeys,
usually ones we would purchase from Morrow’s Turkey Farm in Hebron, and we’ve also tried other options too, like brining a turkey and deep-frying a whole turkey. However, usually, it is a traditional Butterball frozen turkey that is roasted to become the carving focal point of our annual feast.
Staffed by more than 50 professionally trained home economists and dietitians, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line,
based in Naperville, is just a phone call — or text — away at 844-877-3456. It all began in 1981, when six home economists worked the phones that holiday season to answer about 11,000 turkey-cooking questions. Now, more than four decades later, by the time T-Day arrives next week, the famed Butterball Turkey Talk-Line will receive more than 10,000 calls on just that day alone, many from nervous cooks worried about their
Thanksgiving dinners.
The top ranking advice given every year is for home cooks to invest $1.25 for a meat thermometer to take the guessing out of how long to cook the turkey.
When the inside temperature is 180 degrees when testing the thigh and 170 degrees when inserted in the breast meat, you’re ready to carve. And for those who like their stuffing inside the turkey, the USDA has changed its recommended temperature
throughout the years, so today, bread dressing should test at 165 degrees.
The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line has faced countless queries about “basting” as an ages-old dilemma (and not needed with Butterball brand since they are “self-basting”). While basting is acceptable, the primary issue is the caution of opening the oven door too often, therefore letting heat escape and adding to the roasting time. In recent years, more and more callers also have questions about seasoning “rubs,” with some wonderful rub recipes and other specialty favorites for menus featured at butterball.com.
Today’s featured recipe helps readers plan for a delicious option using leftover
turkey.
In the past, I’ve always made a broth-based turkey noodle soup by starting with creating my own soup stock by boiling down the turkey bits still left on the bones of the remnants from our carving platter. This year, Butterball’s recipe for this rich and creamy turkey and wild rice soup has won me over as the soup supper menu highlight for our guests at the farm during the Thanksgiving weekend.