Two Dozen Turkeys Wish You a Happy Thanksgiving

Last week the bf suggested we make turkey cupcakes. (To clarify, he was talking about cupcakes that looked like turkeys, not cupcakes made from turkey. Lest there be any confusion.) He got the idea from Hello, Cupcake!, a whimsical cupcake cookbook he'd given me as a gift some time ago. Incidentally, What's New Cupcake?, the second book in the series, offers a recipe for cupcakes that look like cooked turkeys, stuffing and all. We briefly contemplated making those, but they seemed too complicated. (Truth be told, I feared that even the traditional cartoonish turkeys would be too complicated. But I was too embarrassed to admit as much so early in the game.)

I baked the cupcakes (from a box mix). I frosted them too, as well as some of the gingersnaps that we were using for tail feathers. But after that I had to bow out. The thing about me is, I'm not good with stuff that involves mechanics, precision, or exact instructions of any kind. Not to mention that repetitive activities drive me batty. I said as much to the bf, who just laughed and said something about this not being news. So, he sat patiently at our kitchen table carving wattles out of Fruit by the Foot, whittling beaks out of orange Swedish fish, and freezing and frosting donut holes so that they could become turkey heads. I asked him if he was enjoying himself, and that if building things was to him what making bags and jewelry was to me. He said probably. He's a very patient sort, and I admire his discipline.

Our ingredients deviated significantly from those suggested by the book (which is why I'm not even going to bother to list them). For example, I was forced to buy M&Ms instead of candy corn because every superstore and drugstore aisle had long been wiped clean of any harvesty treats to make way for candy canes and red and green-wrapped chocolates. That made me angry at first, but now I think the more colorful M&Ms make for better "feather" accents anyway.

We're bringing some to his family's house and some to my family's house (hence the need for two dozen). I can't wait to see their faces when they see them. I can't help but wonder, though, if they'll feel weird about eating them, as I did last night when sampling a finished turkey head, eyeballs and all. But such moral questions are best left to days that don't revolve around eating turkey.