Thanksgiving Dinner with the Browns

A Foraged Thanksgiving

With the Browns for Turkey Dinner

Could you imagine getting to have Thanksgiving with the Browns at Browntown? Well, neither could I, but it happened! I was on a much anticipated trip to Alaska, traveling on the ferry and stopping here and there, taking pictures, meeting people, and loving every minute of it. In Hoonah, I just happened to run into most of the Brown family, eating pizza for lunch, surprise, surprise. As I got to talking with Bear, Rainy and Birdy, they invited me to sit with the family, and we shared stories and pizza and laughing ourselves silly until, sadly, it was time for them to leave, and time for me to decide where my travels would take me next. I had kind of lost track of calendar time, I mean I knew what day of the week and date it was, but I completely spaced that Thanksgiving was coming up. I hadn't looked at an actual calendar for weeks.

As we all stood to leave, someone mentioned they had to get some things for Thanksgiving, and Birdy asked where I was going for the holiday. I had to laugh, and explain I had no idea. That's when they cried, almost in unison, " Come spend it with us!" I have to admit it's pretty hard to say no to an invitation like that!

So I agreed to come, and asked what I could bring, and they said they were having a completely wild-foraged dinner; everyone was to go out and find food to add to the feast. I loved the idea, but I do know my own strengths, and my weaknesses! I volunteered to get turkeys! They looked at me like I was a complete idiot, but said to meet them at the dock the next morning, and we all left in different directions to get our errands done. Oh, did I forget to tell you I had done a little exploring around Hoonah a couple of days before? Oh, yes, I did know where to forage for a couple of big turkeys! Haha!

Suffice it to say the people of Hoonah are very nice and very helpful, and I got a ride to the outskirts of town easily, where I did manage to bag a couple of turkeys ( I had seen them there before, so I hadn't just been walking blindly through the woods.) I also made a new friend out there who very kindly showed me how to clean and pluck the big birds, for which I am eternally grateful! ( It should be mentioned at this point, that I'm pretty sure it wasn't turkey hunting season, if they even have a season for them in Alaska, if there even are turkeys in Alaska. However, I can assure you, no Fish and Game regulations were violated in the process.)

I caught another ride back into town with my prizes in an old feed sack, and cajoled the lodge's cook into chilling my birds in their big fridge until the next morning. Then I took the time to check an actual calendar, to find out Thanksgiving was 3 days away. I tracked the cook down again, to find out how to roast a big bird in coals, Dutch oven style, and how to smoke the other turkey, for variety. Like I said, very nice people in Hoonah!! I managed to hit the grocery store before it closed, and foraged in the aisles for the supplies I needed to cook the birds, and then returned to my room and went to sleep, dreaming of turkey dinner.

Early the next morning I was up, ready and packed, and headed down the dock with pack on my back and turkeys in my arms. Good thing I didn't have to go far, they were kind of heavy at around 20 pounds each. I wanted to be sure there was enough turkey! But Gabe and Matt had seen me and came running down the dock and took my heavy burden for me. They still didn't believe I had fresh turkeys though, and as soon as they got me, my gear and the birds on board the Integrity, the family gathered around to see the birds. The looks on their faces was priceless when they realized I really had brought turkeys, and I could honestly say I had foraged for them in the woods outside Hoonah, although Billy did kind of look at me sideways and raised an eyebrow, like he just wasn't sure of my story.

When we got to Browntown I explained I probably needed to get started on the smoked turkey right away, and recruited Bear and Matt to help me. With Noah's help, they constructed a makeshift smoker big enough for one bird. I looked like it had 4 basic layers, a pit in the ground for the fire, a metal grate to hold a pan of dampened wood chips, above that another grill to hold the bird in it's pan, and a metal tub overturned on top of it all for a cover. It looked pretty good to me, but what do I know about smoking turkeys?