Now, everyone knows about “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but how many of you have ever considered “The Twelve Days of Turkey?”
Turkey is uniquely American and to most citizens it would not be Thanksgiving without having a meal with a big bird complemented by all the trimmings.
But unless you are part of a family consisting of at least a dozen people, a large turkey can create a big problem…namely, leftovers.
Most women having spent a small fortune on a turkey will look forward to spending a little less money on meat for the week following Turkey Thursday, and heaven knows, everyone enjoys that.
The rest of the family, however, does not always see it that way and a pattern, at least in my family, is set:
On Thanksgiving Day my family says to me, “Oh, what a delicious big turkey.”
On the day after Thanksgiving my family says to me, “Boy, those cold turkey sandwiches sure taste good.”
On the third day of turkey my family says to me, “Hot turkey sandwiches are a real treat.”
On Sunday afternoon, while they all watch football games my family says to me, “Turkey hash goes good with a game.”
Coming home Monday, from school and work, my family says to me, “Do we indeed smell turkey soup?”
On the sixth day of turkey my family is impressed and says, “We did not know you knew how to make turkey filled crepes.”
On the seventh day of straight turkey my family looks resigned and eat turkey chowder and say, “Well, that’s different.”
On Thursday after Thanksgiving the turkey, served with leftover trimmings, receive just a, “Not again.”
By Friday they all yell, “Oh, No!”
By the 10th day my family says absolutely nothing at all.
On the 11th day, while looking at what’s left of the hated bird, they tell me they are not hungry.
And on the very last day — the 12th — as I sit alone (they all called and said they were sorry but they could not make it home for dinner,) I take what’s left, dump it in the garbage and settle down with a peanut butter sandwich and a glass of milk.
Needless to say, we do not have turkey for Christmas.

Heidi Thurston lives in Kannapolis.