Thursday, November 28, 2013

Nov 27 -- We Ate Turkey Testicles!!!

We flew to the Chicago area Monday to celebrate Thanksgiving with my daughter Kristen and her family. We have been doing the normal preparation for the Thanksgiving feast and also to put up Christmas lights outside on Friday (we brought longjohns, which I think we will really have to use). Kristen helped me update my wardrobe to take advantage of the fun burgundy fringed boots I got in Amsterdam (all the stuff I've gotten to wear with them has made them a more expensive purchase than planned!)

One of the traditions of the village they live in, Huntley, is the annual Turkey Testicle Festival, featuring loud music, adult beverages, lots of people packed into a tent, and, of course, the featured food.



In the tent

The weather here is chillier than we are used to in Mill Valley, and actually chillier than normal -- I call it the Adams Effect -- It seems like every time Jim heads to the midwest with me, there are all kinds of low temperature records that fall while he is there. We once set an all-time record lowest temperature ever in Milwaukee during a visit. (-30 with -80 windchills!!) The forecast for Huntley kept dropping as the time to fly neared, and we got to experience light snowfall too. Fortunately, the temperature in the tent was quite tolerable.

As you might expect, it was loud and difficult to carry on a conversation. For the first time, I understand, they offered wine in addition to beer, so at least I had an enjoyable beverage for the event. We were there with Kristen and Jerry and their friends Lisa and Johnathon. When I came back from my beverage run, Jerry was holding a small container of unidentifiable fried objects, which were introduced as the featured food. I encouraged Jim to try one, since he is always saying he'll try anything. Bad move. Now it was his turn to shame me into it. My experience with deep fried objects is that they pretty much all taste the same so I finally relented. OMG. Very spicy with lots of tabasco, which I guess was a good thing, but the image of what it was made this an event not to repeat.
The four of us -- Jerry, Kristen, Jim, and me -- staying warm
Jerry offering testicles to the group
Enjoyment??? or survival?

Jim and Kristen