Is August too Early to be Thinking about Christmas Dinner?

For those of us REALLY into food, the answer, of course, is no. Thanksgiving and Christmas are to foodies what the World Series and the Superbowl are to the sports fans. Our Thanksgiving tradition includes getting a pasture-raised turkey from our friends the Whelan's at Promised Land Farms in Thorntown. Last year, Henry (five) and I went out to the farm in September to "visit" or turkey. Jim and Nancy send them off to be butchered a few days before Thanksgiving and you come back to pick up your bird right before the big day. This tradition has added a new layer of "thanks" to our thanksgiving - knowing the people who cared for our bird, seeing the quality of life it lived on the farm. Jim has told me that he talks to his gobblers from day one telling them that they have a very noble purpose - to help one family have a very special Thanksgiving. You've got to love that. My wife, who is a vegetarian 364 days a year, makes an exception on Thanksgiving when we are eating a Promised Land turkey.

This weekend I learned about another family farm that raises turkeys and also geese. It is the prospect of a GOOSE that prompted me to begin thinking about Christmas dinner. The Humphrey Family Farm is located in Williamsport, Indiana (west of Lafayette near the Illinois line) and they specialize in pasture-raised poultry. As you might imagine they have a limited supply of turkeys and geese so they are already taking deposits on birds for Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can download a deposit form here.

Humphrey's birds freely room over 36 acres of pasture and woods, sleeping, eating, and basking in the fresh country air. Birds will be available the week before Thanksgiving and the week before Christmas and you can arrange to pick up either at their farm or at Trader's Point Creamery in Zionsville. See the deposit form for contact information and further details.

I've never fixed a goose for Christmas, or any other time for that matter. It sounds so Dickensian - I'd have to coach the boys on an English accent so one of them could say, "God bless us, everyone!"