It’s that time of year again, when serious cooks begin planning their Thanksgiving meal. We’ll be scanning November issues of cooking magazines for new dishes to try, dusting off the recipe cards for the family favorites that appear on our table each year, and DVRing hours and hours of the Food Network. Thanksgiving is chief among food holidays. This time of year I usually encourage readers to consider bypassing grocery-store turkeys for farm-fresh birds. Sure a frozen Butterball will work just fine but a fresh turkey, one that was roaming free just a few days before the big day, seems so much more ceremonial.
In years past our family has made selecting our Thanksgiving turkey a tradition on par with cutting a Christmas tree. When we get one from a farm, we make an afternoon of it, visiting with the farm family and catching up our lives over the past year. Sometimes we don’t make the trek to the country, but opt for buying a farm-fresh bird from one of a few locally-owned butcher shops, where we learn about the breed of turkey we’re selecting and the farm family who raised it. This year there are more choices than ever for farm-fresh turkeys in and around central Indiana. Here are a few of those options:
Promised Land Farms (9781 W. 275 N., Thorntown) offers free-range birds that can be ordered and picked up a couple of days before Thanksgiving. You can arrange a pre-Thanksgiving visit to see the turkeys in action and meet Jim and Nancy Whelan. It is a fun trip for the whole family. They can be reached by phone at (765) 483-9268. Their Web site is www.promisedlandfarm.us.
Joe’s Butcher Shop (111. W. Main St., Carmel) is Carmel’s butcher extraordinaire and Joe is selling all-natural free-range turkeys raised across the state line in Ohio. Even though it is not an Indiana farmer, I think this is a good choice. Joe has a commitment to quality and sustainable practices. This is guaranteed to be a delicious bird. Joe is taking orders until Nov. 10, 2009. He can be reached by phone at (317) 846-8877 and online at www.joesbutchershop.com.
Goose The Market (2503 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis) is a trendy retail shop in Indy’s Fall Creek Place, specializing in top-rate foods from both near and far. They have a terrific year-round selection of meats, cheeses and all sorts of delicious foods. For Thanksgiving, they are offering turkeys raised by Gunthorp Farms in LaPorte. Gunthorp raises these birds specifically for Goose’s Chef/Owner Christopher Eley’s specifications. Orders for turkeys are being taken online at www.goosethemarket.com or they can be reached by phone at (317) 924-4944. Goose the Market is where I’ll be getting our bird this year.
Moody Meats (11145 N. Michigan Road, Zionsville) is a new shop specializing in beef, pork and chicken they raise themselves. Although the Zionsville location is new, they’ve been supplying customers with quality meats for years from their stores in Avon and Ladoga. Like Joe’s Butcher Shop, Moody is getting their turkeys this year from a farm in Ohio. You can learn more about Moody at www.moodymeats.com or give them a call at (317) 873-1800.
The original Thanksgiving was a time to give thanks for the harvest. You can certainly be thankful for the food you purchase at the local supermarket; but having on your table a few foods of more local origin can add a special dimension to your gratitude. Of course we don’t grow cranberries here in Indiana and I’ll certainly have those on my table; but I’ll also have our locally-raised turkey, cornbread stuffing made from Indiana cornmeal, and some great cheeses from a local dairy.
As we give thanks around our table we’ll be especially thankful for our farmer and shopkeeper friends.
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