Definitely Dark

Weekend Assignment #139: It's time for Thanksgiving dinner! Which do you prefer -- white meat, or dark meat? Explain your answer. Because it seems that most people have a preference one way or another, and sometimes they can get testy about it.

For those of you who for some reason disdain the whole turkey scene, answering "neither" is acceptable, but you need to explain why and offer an alternate dish for consumption.

Extra credit: Being Thanksgiving, note one thing you've been thankful for in 2006.

The pictures here are all reruns from a 2004 entry on Musings, "Thanksgiving Before and After." In that entry I gave a fairly detailed account of that Thanksgiving, in which I stuffed the turkey with fresh carrots and celery for a relatively low-carb holiday spread. Under the terms of the Blocher Holiday Compromise, I cook either at Thanksgiving or at Christmas, not both, because John hates the mess involved. Funny thing, though. Because we went to Disneyland for Christmas last year, I haven't cooked a turkey at all since this Thanksgiving one from 2004.

But Scalzi's question is about what kind of turkey I like to eat, not whether we roast turkey at every traditional opportunity. Actually, I'm lucky in this respect. I like dark meat. Always have. John prefers white meat. Since we're the only two people eating the darn thing, that works out fine, except for the fact that it's hard for two people to eat a whole turkey before the remaining leftovers become inedible. More than once I've popped the last of the white meat in the freezer a day or so too late, only to throw it away nine months later.

Why do I prefer dark meat? John Scalzi's own answer to this question pretty much matches mine. Dark meat is almost never dry, and white meat almost always is. Dark meat has more flavor than white meat, and a much better texture. White meat breaks apart into stringy hunks of edible cardboard. Dark meat doesn't. And finally, dark meat comes in handy natural packaging - the thigh and the drumstick. Turkey wings are honorary dark meat.

Extra Credit: I'm thankful that John still puts up with me after all these years. Nearly three decades after we first met, he's still my best friend, my inspiration, my confidante, my travel companion, my main source of intellectual stimulation, my personal humorist, my sounding board, the thorn in my side, my connection for news about Doctor Who and other media, and most of all, the love of my life.

Karen

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