Dear Capon Lovers

I know it’s Fall when your requests turn to Concord grapes. At Thanksgiving your thoughts turn to CAPON! A capon is a rooster that is castrated but gets to live twice the life of a chicken. It is larger than a chicken and its hormones go to making succulent meat rather than sinewy testosterone-loaded stuff. Sorry guys, and we regularly spay and neuter our pets (I hope you do, as it’s the only way to achieve our goals).

Last year I did an exhaustive search for a capon, as my husband was not allowed a day off work on “black Friday” to go see his Nanny and family. No-one stocked them locally. I was shocked as we always had capon for special occasions when I was a child.

I finally found Wapsie Farms and talked to Marc Nichols, one of the owners and asked to call back this year for an interview. Sadly, the largest capon farm in the USA has closed its doors. Marc still agreed to an interview. He has kindly provided you with another outlet for capon, http://www.roastgoose.com.

It is sad to find local farms closing. We champion Jim’s parents for running a family dairy for many years and now a cattle ranch as they get older (and wiser, who wants to milk cows 2x per day?). Marc will like this. I asked my husband what were his family traditions for Thanksgiving and Christmas and he said, “milk cows.”

Hopefully the weather will clear tomorrow and allow us to go “over the river and through the woods” to Nanny’s for a day or two. Today I talked with my favorite professor; an ornery old coot (lawyer) with whom I used to verbally spar; and my best friend from high school. What a great day! Yes, and one to be thankful for. Always. To our families and friends and priests who call from out of the blue, I give thanks for my life. Thank you for being a part of Dee’s World. I wish you well this Thanksgiving and hope you find your perfect capon for special occasions. Cheers, Dee