what to do with my lovely farm fresh turkey.

Tell DDIL's father that you will not be cooking christmas dinner this year, so sad as you are about it, you think it would be about it, you think it would be better not to accept the lovely turkey this year?

Or accept it anyway, do what you usually do with it, and carve all the crown meat. Buy a million or so rolls and make turkey sandwiches. Frozen in sandwiches, the texture will not be obvious, and you can eat them at your leisure, adding chutney, salad, cranberry sauce, whatever, to vary them. I used to freeze the last of the Sunday roast like that regularly, and have a supply of ready-made picnics and lunches.

You may then find that you need to buy a bigger freezer - see another thread "Economy v Expense"

Can't you do the same as you did before, i.e. freeze the legs and roast the crown? Although it will only be Mr P and I this year, I'm still doing a turkey, probably around 5kg. Roast Christmas day, cold with bubble and squeak Boxing day, then cold with chips and then a turkey and ham pie!

I do freeze some of the left over cooked meat, but only use it for "cooked" dishes, i.e. curry etc.

She will be at DDIL's for Christmas dinner - will probably be full to the eyeballs with turkey.

Accept it graciously, and give it to someone who'd appreciate it.

Would DDILs father not consider donating the turkey to a Charity that is hosting Christmas Lunch for less fortunate people,at least it would be well received and used to it's maximum.

Perhaps he won't give you one this year as he'll know you won't be hosting Christmas Dinner? Just a thought...

Ask for your turkey to be pardoned this year

"Size is random" this reminds me of a farmer friend who raises turkeys each year. One year he had a very large bird that no one ordered, he did not kill it and left it around the farmyard. Come the spring, he had to take a shotgun to it, it had become enormous and vicious, no one could get near it.

I wouldn't hesitate to freeze it.

Don't look a gift turkey in the beak!

We are not home for Christmas Day (again). Last year I bought a turkey (love cold turkey!) but we didn't cook it so I froze it and we ate it at Easter. It was delicious.

This year I may buy a turkey crown and cook it on Christmas Eve - have to have cold turkey with bubble and squeak.

Yes, it would be very nice to donate it to someone who can't afford one or to people who are cooking Christmas lunch for the homeless.

www.redbubble.com/people/brunoboy/writing/4024235-the-twelve-days-of-christmas-or-the-everlasting-turkey

rosequartz - brilliant poem, hadn't seen that one before
pompa - ha ha !! not too far from the truth, a turkey can be fearsome.

Pardoning or donating the turkey - DH will want 'some turkey' here at home.

My thoughts were that it seemed a shame to take the freshness away from a fresh turkey by freezing it.... IFYWIM. I will freeze.

Turkey will still arrive late on Christmas Eve even though we are going to his daughter for dinner. It is a long standing gift.

And yes, we will be well turkeyed after Christmas Dinner.

Thanks all for your ideas. I think I could combine several ideas.
1.
I will freeze the legs as usual.
Cook half the crown on Boxing Day and freeze the other uncooked half.
2.
Roast the crown for DH and myself on Boxing Day and for leftovers.
Use the remaining cooked meat for a selection of an awful lot of frozen sandwiches. Never done this before - and sounds good but could only use a limited number of sandwiches.

I've decided......
Freeze legs.
Roast half the crown and use it for boxing day and sandwiches, and make sandwiches to freeze using lovely chutneys.
Freeze the other half of the crown.

We really only like turkey as a roast or in sandwiches.

(As an aside his wife, i.e. my DDIL's mother, is also my cousin. So my DDIL is also my second cousin and my DGD is my third cousin - or something like that !!)

Again, thanks all for speedy responses.
You are stars

He will know you are going to daughter-in-laws won't he? Surely he won't offer one this year.

Or you could ask him to leave one running around until New Year's eve.

How could you not like turkey and ham pie

Mr P would be most put out if I didn't make one, using some of the turkey and gammon!

Doesn't quite work like that jings , if he is doing them for orders, you don't wait until the customer turns up, then quickly dispatch and prepare it! They usually have to be prepared and left to hang for at least a day or two.

Jings - I could guarantee that a turkey will be with us, probably at around 11pm on Christmas Eve, even though we are at DDILs next day. It is possible that he could be there for dinner also.

As mentioned by Phoenix it will already have been plucked and hanging high in the cold barn out of the way of foxes. Ours is likely to have a break in the skin, not acceptable by a butcher.

He is a very nervous and easily stressed man and I wouldn't change the way things have been, especially as he is currently in a fragile condition, not great at Turkey plucking time. Everyone is called upon for plucking (unpaid), finish day job and straight to the farm until about 2am ....and those quills are unkind to the hands. Everything has to be done as cold as possible..rinsing hands in buckets of cold water. Some farmers dip the birds into boiling water which helps release the quills but doing this also makes the skin more susceptible to tearing.

Old school country farmer.... this is why a fresh free range bird is so expensive from the butcher.

Coolgran I remember someone reciting it at a school pta do, so that must be many years ago. I remembered it and googled it (not quite the same one that I remember but very funny nonetheless!)

I was going to say that you could make loads of gravy on Boxing Day and freeze the remaining turkey with gravy in containers - you could roast some potatoes and do sprouts whenever you fancied then.

I was trying to explain to DD2 the connection between us and her second cousin once removed who she may meet up with, but it got very complicated - sounds a bit like your family!

I wasn't actually being serious about letting one keep running around a bit longer.

Just tell him you don't need the flipping thing! #fussovernothing

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Run-Turkey-Run-A-Thanksgiving-Day-Story-About-the-One-That-Got-Away-392490

This thread could run and run .....

You did ask what we'd do, Coolgran. We weren't to know that your DIL's father was less than robust, which was why I put forward my view that he might not give you a turkey this year.

#agreewithjingl

Jings.....whoa..... running turkey..... I knew you weren't serious.
I can tell when it's a bit of fun.

As for `fussovernothing`......
No fuss intended.... it's just a bit of light conversation...
If it bores you - well, as my friend would say......You can't have your favourite dinner every day.

Do you live near me? - I could help you out

Ana - Of course I asked what you'd do, I am interested. It's not possible to give absolute full info in an original post, that's why I added more info as the thread progressed, just to explain a little background.

My post was meant as a wee bit of conversation,
I guess something gets lost in the written word without inflection and body language.