With the recent passage of American Thanksgiving, and our own Christmas celebration, I thought it might interest some to read a couple of personal turkey stories.
My first Christmas in Cayman in 1985, having come from Jamaica, I was living in an “efficiency” apartment, what I think they call “bedsitters” in other places: one long room, a bathroom at the back, a bed area, a hotplate and a mini fridge. No oven. Well I wanted to “do” Christmas, and although it was only days away, I ordered a microwave from the States big enought to cook a small turkey. First surprise was when it arrived on Christmas Eve. I went down to Customs, thinking to myself “no way am I going to get this cleared in time”. I left Customs about 20 minutes later with the microwave, no bribes paid, no hassle, lots of help from Customs officials, and with quite a few Christmas greetings exchanged. Wow!
So now I could buy my turkey. I stopped into Foster’s, the big supermarket nearest the Airport customs depot. I had my newspaper flier…. “Turkeys, 79c per pound”. I found the biggest turkey I thought would fit in the oven, and I went to check out with a few other items. When the cashier rang up the turkey, it registered at something like $1.09 per pound, the regular price. It so happened that the owner, Mr Foster himself (David) was walking past, and as I protested to the cashier, he asked what the problem was. I explained to him, and he apologised, telling the cashier, “sell it to him for 79 cents”. Only after I got home did I realize that I had paid 79 cents for the entire turkey. True, true!
Well, I cooked the turkey in my new microwave, and we had a wonderful first Christmas dinner. Microwave turkey doesn’t match the crisp skin of oven roasted, but among friends and family, it is all you need for a magical meal.
Looking back, I am a bit ashamed that I did not pay the proper price for that turkey. It was however, a memorable Christmas. Thank you David. Thank you Cayman.
