How a Master Chef Lost the Thanksgiving Turkey

On this episode of Our American Stories, according to the National Turkey Federation, each year Americans gobble down on 46 million turkeys for Thanksgiving...but out of that number, how many have gone "missing"? "Master Chef" Steve Reed tells his story on the turkey that got away...at least for a little while.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we return to our American stories and our Thanksgiving special.
Up next, a story from Steve Reid about an unforgettable
experience with a turkey. Take it away, Steve.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
My name is Stephen Reid, and I live here in Carlisle, Iowa,
and I would like to share a story about how
I lost a Thanksgiving turkey. So, just a little bit
of a background. I am a chef and I have
worked as a chef for over thirty years now, and

(00:47):
back in two thousand and six, I saw a job
listing for a family that was looking to hire a
private chef. Lo and behold, I was offered the position,
and I was just elated pretty much almost immediately. I
bonded with this family and it was just a joy

(01:09):
to show up to work every day. And in fact,
the husband of the family he gave me the name
a master chef, which I had to laugh because I
am not a master chef at all. I mean, yes,
I am a chef, yes I am an excellent cook,
but I am not a master chef at least in

(01:30):
the officials, in the official sense. So I had been
working for this family for two and a half years
and Thanksgiving was coming up and they were trying to
figure out what they wanted to do for Thanksgiving dinner.
This debate developed between the mother and the father of

(01:54):
the family on what kind of turkey that they wanted
to have. The husband, who had done all of the
cooking before I was hired, really had this obsession with
really large turkeys. But the mother of the house was
really concerned about eating healthy, so she really preferred grass

(02:19):
fed organic turkey.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
In ten days, this whole.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Argument went on, and so a week before Thanksgiving in
two thousand and eight, the phone rings in the kitchen
and it was the husband and he said, master Chef,
don't worry about going to the grocery store at all.

(02:44):
We're gonna have two smaller, grass fed organic turkeys show
up at the house. They're gonna be delivered to the
front door. They're gonna be all thought out, and they're
gonna be all ready for you.

Speaker 3 (02:56):
And I'm thinking, oh, that is just incredible. I went
through the weekend just really didn't think anything about it.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
And so I came back in to work that Monday
and everything was going normal, and the phone rings and
it is the husband of the family and he says,
master Chef, we've changed our minds, and I want you

(03:28):
to just drop whatever you're doing and go to the store,
and I need you to find a turkey and make
sure that it's around twenty pounds please.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
And I'm thinking, oh my gosh, are you kidding me?

Speaker 2 (03:47):
With it being the Monday before Thanksgiving, the parking lot
was jam packed full. There was one spot that I
found and it was in the very corner of the
park wort, just about as far away from the grocery
store as you could possibly be. And going to the

(04:13):
grocery store, sure thing, you know, it was busy, it
was loaded with people. And not only did I need turkey,
but I also needed some celery. So I walked into
the store and immediately went over to the purduce section,
grabbed some celery, and proceeded to the back of the
store to where they kept all of the turkeys. And

(04:36):
what you know, way down in the bottom of this cooler,
there's this huge turkey.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
And it was just like the heavens.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Opened up and a chorus of angels were singing down
upon me. It's like, yes, I have found a twenty
two pound turkey.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
And then I picked up the turkey.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
I'm walking I'm walking towards the front of the store
and I'm switching hands, and obviously there's lines at every cashier.

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Station, so I'm having to hold the turkey. Of course,
by now my arms are feeling feeling.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
Like they're going to be pulled out from my shoulder.
So I get to my truck and I was just
so tired of carrying this turkey and so for whatever reason,
I just threw it in the back of my truck. Now,

(05:44):
something that I need to tell you about my truck
at this point, it didn't have a tailgate. So anyway,
I put the turkey in the into the back of
the truck with a celery, and for a moment, I thought, well,
maybe I should take the turkey and I.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Should put it into the cab of my truck.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
That nah, I don't think that'll be It'll be okay.
That thing weighs twenty three pounds. That turkey isn't gonna
go anywhere.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
So I make it.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Home and go to grab the turkey and the celery
and all I see is the celery.

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Oh, this horror, this terrible feeling just came over me.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
It's like, oh my gosh, I have lost the Thanksgiving turkey.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
But I had to go back and go find my
turkey wherever it might be.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
So I only had to drive maybe three tenths of
a mile at So there was my turkey and it
was just sitting on the curb of the street. And
when I pull up, there was this older gentleman and
I I'll never forget this gentleman because he was just

(07:04):
standing on the curb just looking down at my trikey.
He wasn't touching it, he wasn't trying to pick it
up or do anything like that. He was just standing
there with his hands in his pockets looking at it.
And this is say I'll never forget him because he
had on like these doctor slacks.

Speaker 3 (07:22):
He had on this really.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Nice tweet sports jacket and a Derby hat. And I
obviously I've never met this man before, but I have
to go pick up my turkey. And I go and
it's like, excuse me, sir, but this is my turkey.

Speaker 3 (07:42):
I accidentally lost it on the way home.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
And this gentleman says, oh, I don't know anybody has
ever lost a turkey, And I just shook my head
and said, well, until.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
Now, I don't know anyone that ever has.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Either, and I put the turkey into the car seat
that I had in my truck and drove home.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
So then I had maybe forty five.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Minutes and I was just finished up the meal for
their family when they came home. Of course, in this time,
I'm thinking about everything that happened, that happened, that transpired.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
And I'm just laughing through myself, as like only you.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Anyway, So the family comes in, you know, the kids
come in, and then and then the father comes in,
and obviously the first thing he says is, master Chef,
did you find me a turkey? And I go, oh,
I have a turkey, and I have a story.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
He goes, oh, really, I didn't know whether I should tell.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Him or not, but let's face it, it was a funny story.
And they were just rolling. I mean they could hardly
eat their supper they are laughing so hard.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
And a special thanks to Master Chef. Steve read how
the Master Chef Lost the Thanksgiving Turkey That story here
on our American Stories