SPARED BIRDS
They were destined for the oven and then someone’s dining room table, but fate stepped in and now two turkeys really have something to be thankful for today.
President Bush granted a full presidential pardon to two turkeys during a Rose Garden ceremony yesterday. Mr. Bush announced that the turkeys were being taken off the chopping block and could now live their lives “as safe as could be.”
Visitors to the White House website, voted to name the turkeys “Flyer” and “Fryer.” (Fryer was Flyer’s understudy, but he was reportedly nowhere to be seen during the ceremony.) And never mind that turkeys don’t fly–these two will. They’ve got first class tickets to Disneyland where they’ll act as honorary grand marshals of the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The popular pardon ceremony dates to the days of President Harry Truman in 1947.
A STUFFED STUDENT
The typical American consumes more than 13 pounds of turkey a year, with a good serving of it coming at Thanksgiving. But, for one Chicago culinary student nearly five pounds of it came the day before Thanksgiving.
It’s unlikely that Patrick Bertoletti will be dining on turkey and all the fixings today—he got his fill yesterday during a an annual turkey-eating contest. The 21-year-old won the annual contest by eating 4.8 pounds of the holiday bird – a full pound more than the second-place finisher. (My stomach aches just thinking about it.)
According to news reports, Bertoletti along with seven other contestants in the competition had 12 minutes to eat as much of a 12-pound turkey as they could manage. The defending turkey-eating champion, Sonya Thomas, known as the “Black Widow,” got her mouth too full of turkey to swallow and was disqualified. Bertoletti’s had a different strategy: Start with the breast first.
“It’s white meat and harder to eat. You want to get it out of the way first,” he said.
Weighing in at 190 pounds, Bertoletti is no stranger to eating contests. He has won past titles as pizza-eating champ and ice-cream-eating champion. But he said turkey was much harder, with all that chewing. He later complained that his jaws were very sore. By the way, Bertoletti also told reporters that he didn’t want to see another piece of turkey for a long time—he said he planned to serve venison for Thanksgiving.
A STUFFED PAPER
It’s as much a tradition as the turkey itself — that big bunch of ads that come in the newspaper Thanksgiving Day in preparation for what many consider the busiest shopping day of the year.
If you think you fill heavy after stuffing yourself with a huge holiday meal—in Florida, The Orlando Sentinel newspaper is putting together such a huge packet of advertisements this year — 200 inserts — that the newspaper weighs five pounds. A normal-sized paper weighs less than a pound.
Happy Thanksgiving!