Is it done yet?

Remember the sayings like, "You can't judged a book by the cover," and "Looks aren't everything," and "It's what is on the inside that counts."

This is the actual real turkey prepared for a Thanksgiving dinner by a local family. The names are not being released to protect them from possible public embarassment. But if you know, them, they are probably still laughing about this Thanksgiving. And will probably always remember it.

Imagine the surprise on the hostess's face when she was about to serve up this turkey to Thanksgiving dinner guests. Now, to be fair, I don't know the story behind the dinner. I am only guessing it went something like this:

Husband says, "I will make the turkey in the deep fryer outside, Honey. You don't have to worry. In 45 minutes, 20 pounds of steaming hot, juicy turkey will be ready and on the table."

The turkey was prepped by marinating and covered with cajun spices. Smelling mouth-wateringly-delicious, even before cooking. The anticipation is almost overwhelming.

Wife goes about her business preparing the elaborate "rest" of the meal. All the trimmings are ready. The table is set with the best china, silver and crystal.

Wife is getting anxious, because the husband and his brother are out by the garage cooking the turkey, telling tales of the recent hunt, guessing on the day they will be out on the lake ice fishing and, perhaps, drinking some ice cold beer.

"Time is up. that bird must be done by now," Husband says.

Much to his surprise when he pulled it out of the fryer it appears to be more of a hunk of charcoal than the star attraction of a Thanksgiving feast.

Wife is horified, but laughs. Perhaps more to shrug off the feeling of, "OMG! What am I suppose to do with this?" She downs a half a bottle of Pino Noir, without the use of a glass.

Well, as it turned out, from what I am told, once the family scraped off all of the burnt skin, the meat inside was actually quite delicious. And quite done. Just not a lot of meat, especially for about 14 people. And just so you know, nobody went hungry. There was a heaping pile of instant mashed potatoes, a little bit of gravy and hot dogs were added to the menu. So far, everyone has survived.

But still, you just have to laugh. And say, "Thank you, God, that wasn't my turkey!"