Doctors Orders

You’ll do it yourself – the day after the doctor said, “no heavy lifting.” And your husband (dreaming again) insisted on a patriarchal turkey like you always used to have, when he’d handle the fowl part of Thanksgiving. You fixed side-dishes; but cooking giblets, stuffing the bird, making gravy – that was his domain. You just stayed out of his way. But this morning – 20 pounds of thawed raw flesh in the sink – he swore he couldn’t remember a thing about it, so it’s up to you. Lifting down the great ceramic crock from the top-shelf cabinet; mixing chunks apple, celery, onion, mushroom, cornbread for the stuffing… well why not, it’s up to you, you have some cabbage in the fridge that needs using, and cabbage has such a sweet- peppery taste. Stuff the cavities, ease that ponderous turkey onto its rack in the oven. Three cookbooks spread out on the table, full of theories on salting or not, stuffing or not, how long at what temp… you’ll just wing it. That’s how a bird gets through life.