It’s called the Thompson Turkey and most of the recipe is here. We’ve been making it in our family for a long time.
It involves three bowls for the stuffing – one of meat and bread, another spices, a third fruit, then mixing. A mustard paste coats the turkey. You turn it while cooking towards the end. You baste every 15 minutes for 5 hours.
I’m posting this recipe because I discovered a comment from 2009 at the bottom of the page.
This has been a tradition in my family since 1946. My mother
discovered this recipe at the end of a short story in a book that she
was editing for the GI’s in WWII. The story was “Joe the Wounded Tennis
Player,” but the recipe was a non sequitor that was probably taken from
his father’s chef from the Saratoga Inn. My father thought it was a
joke. But my mother claims that the second thing they did after he
returned from Europe, was to go to Macy’s to buy the ingredients for the
stuffing. As a side note, this was the turkey that the Guthries: Arlo,
Joady, Nora, and their mother, Marjorie, had at our house in
Stockbridge, MA, on Thanksgiving in 1960. I’ve never tasted a turkey
that came close to this one. It’s simply the best and worth the effort.
It is the best. There are others that are also the best. But I’m sure this one is the best.
Also, this is clearly someone from my family. My mother claims it isn’t her. Any volunteers?
Traditions matter. Off to play with the kids.