Saving Tradition

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NATURAL HEALTH

Turkey is great for you! Here's how to take advantage of a low-calorie, low-fat holiday food.

I've decided to appoint Thanksgiving "Outstanding Holiday of the Year." It's not just about the scrumptious food, but the hours of family time. Your last relative invasion was probably Labor Day or July 4th, so you should have had plenty of time to recuperate by now. You can welcome those relatives with open arms. (Of course you may feel differently by the holiday season's end, when you stagger around asking, "Are these people here again?")

Thanksgiving is also a holiday of leisure. There is no pressure to buy extravagant gifts or haul 200-pound coolers. There's just a brief, frenzied period of mass food preparation, followed by gluttonous consumption. Then comes the football game, when the crowd either naps contentedly or cleans up for eight hours, depending on the gender. And it must be said, hokey or not: Thanksgiving really is about appreciating what we have. You simply-can't avoid that homey, feel-good glow.

Many of us treasure the nostalgia of old family recipes, regardless of whether or not we actually enjoy them. It's all about tradition. However, most of Grandma's recipes clearly originated from the "more-fat-and-sugar-is-better" era. Therefore I have tried to save tradition while adapting old recipes over the years. Truth is, I don't miss the gooey marshmallows swimming on my yams. Or the puddle of butter in Grandma's turkey dressing. You can alter tradition without killing it.

Take it Outside

Last Thanksgiving, my husband, feeling adventurous, decided to throw a naturally-raised turkey on the weber grill. (I was certainly in favor of bypassing five hours of oven-sitting a 16pound turkey.) It turned out to be the most delicious turkey we've ever tasted—despite a mishap or two.

My husband's holiday philosophy is "Ease into the day," which is why he mo seyed out back to begin cooking at 2 P.M. —just when we had planned to sit and eat. Fortunately, it was a warm 30° outside. Unfortunately, there were winds up to 40 miles per hour. Because the turkey made the grill top heavy in the winds, we had to anchor the grill down with bricks. (We thought it would be disastrous if the turkey blew into our neighbor's yard.)

Not only did it get dark by 5 P.M. , but we had trouble keeping the coals burn ing—especially after it rained. By 7 P.M. , I had one seriously crabby husband on my hands. However I also had a very tender smoked turkey.

I didn't stuff the bird since I simply could not imagine a smoked stuffing. So I baked it in a casserole instead, and since my family insists on having mashed potatoes and gravy with their turkey, I made gravy from the delicious smoked drippings. Will we be grilling again this Thanksgiving? Of course! Not because we enjoy suffering on national holidays, but because we're practically experts now—we've practiced on roast chickens all summer long. We are ready for November's "Big Bird BBQ."

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