I love thanksgiving. I used to have a tradition to host "thanksgiving in march" which would be a traditional thanksgiving meal, but for friends (vs family).

It was always a blast, I need to start them up again (maybe thanksgiving in June?)
--andy

Turkey is a great barbecue food! I had grilled turkey last month, it was fab. And my uncle used to do one on a outdoor spit in the summer, it was to die for. Just get a free range, organic, non chemical injected one that's a normal size! That's what will taste good.

We have a Thanksgiving Dinner in the summer.
Turkey Ham and the works.
I have Thanksgiving every also.
Lou

I cooked a bazillion turkeys for some "hot chicken sandwiches" we will be serving at a fundraiser this week!

Linda, I'm on my way. I love roasted turkey, DH hates it as well as the smell. I fix it for thanksgiving anyway, get him a ham. No real reason, I have to wait until November for it. I order it at restaurants every chance I get, but it has to be real turkey.

I love turkey and Thanksgiving too. The only problem I foresee is heating up the oven during the summer. Right now it is stinking hot and humid here so turning on the oven is not something I would want to do. I would like it grilled but we don't have a BBQ grill so that's out. I love the idea of Thanksgiving in March..that is really a good thought...it's still nice and chilly in March!

Just want to say I haven't heard 'Doda' for a long time, made me smile.

The one thing I don't understand about cooking turkeys is why people think they MUST be cooked whole. We cook so many turkeys for events at our church and have great results cooking them in pieces, with different times for an oven full of breasts or an oven full of thighs.

What I bought for the grill was turkey thighs. Folks don't eat turkey cut up IMHO, due to the dying out of the art of the butcher. I have such a tiny kitchen and am so devoid of patience and skill in the kitchen there is no way I'm going to hack up a turkey, if I could even find a nice small one. But really, they should sell turkeys cut up just like they do chickens at the market, OR, I should be able to ask the butcher to cut one up for me. At most grocery stores they don't even have decent turkeys or a butcher you can find. Even at the farm market I found the selection of turkey cuts to be limited.

Just because of the video I looked at the clay roasters and they're way too small for my family's Thanksgiving bird! I think I did better getting that big sale goose pot! Still looking for the cutrate lackeys to carry it for me. :)

Here's the video URL/link if anyone wants to see it (I think it's funny anyway):

http://www.youtube.com/user/DodaMollie#p/u/0/RNi6VeyuVcw

Here is a link that might be useful: Doda Mollie turkey video

That video was linked in your first post...I got all in a tizz thinking there was another!!
It was always the custom in our house that youg et to choose your "birthday dinner"...Daughter's birthday in mid December....son's mid June.
DD always wanted Mom's spaghetti and meatballs and chocolate cake....son always wanted roast turkey with all the fixin's and a home made angel food cake....and in the early years we didn't have air conditioning in the house. AARGH!
After one miserable birthday dinner, I learned to borrow my MIL's Westinghouse electric roaster and plug it in on the car port.
Too soon they learned the joys of rare filet of beef....but the chocolate cake and the home made angelfood remain special.
I guess I shouldn't complain...one friend's son always wanted Kraft mac and cheese!

Linda, our family has the same custom and fortunately most of the birthdays land in summer months and the choices always have some fried okra, fresh corn in some form, homegrown tomatoes - all along that line.. or just plain old good grilled hamburgers and hotdogs.

As for the turkey in parts, that's one of the joys of Harry's. They sell the turkey in parts all year long. This thread is inspiring me to take a look at them this week. A good slice of turkey with stuffing and gravey sounds might good.

Sorry, Linda! Someone asked me where the video was so I posted a showier link. Your son's birthday dinner reminds me of my Australian friend's traditional English Christmas dinner at mid-Summer, complete with roasts and Yorkshire pudding, served right after church in the middle of the day. :) The roaster was a great idea.

Lpink, I feel for you! The two stores near me, where I shop most, have several butchers right there who will do whatever you need, and they also often have turkey breasts ready to go. I think they get them pre-butchered from the packer. For sure, you could order legs or whatever if you didn't want whole birds. I learn so much here about what isn't available eslewhere, and it makes me sad.

Ghoghunter, turkey is great done on the barbecue! I'd butterfly (spatchcock) it, or cut into pieces. We usually just do a half breast, but a smaller turkey would fit fine and give you a mix of light and dark. Have you seen the flowerpot smoker thread?

I always see turkey thighs, legs, breasts cut up. Just never thought of buying them to roast for myself. Someone must be buying them, so I'll treat myself soon. I'll practice stuffing a turkey thigh, uuummh!

They sell turkey sausage everywhere and the breasts frozen, but that's not the same as a fresh small turkey for grilling or putting on the spit. I'm sure it's availabe somewhere but not in my neihborhood haunts regularly. But now that I know how good the thighs are on the grill I might frequent the one place I got them at.

We frequently grill half a fresh turkey breast or a couple of legs or thighs on the grill in warm weather. When cooked with the "low and slow" method, they stay nice and juicy.

LOL, plllog. I thought about that Friday as I walked past the turkey counter. It's too hot here for the oven, but grilled turkey sounds wonderful. Leftovers sound even better.

I did attend an early summer dinner party once where turkey was served and everyone loved the idea.

It is definitely never too early for Thanksgiving :-) I am having turkey, gravy, and sweet potatoes for dinner, although I am having it with rhubarb sauce instead of cranberry.