Tasteful Turkey, Not Just For Thanksgiving Anymore! by Portia C. Langston

Portia C Langston is in her junior year at FDU and strives every single day to make it through. She is a single mother of the best 6 year old little girl that ever walked the earth and thanks God every single day for bringing this angel into her life. Portia is the middle child of 5, 2 older siblings and 2 younger siblings. Portia really does not regret anything that she has been through in life and takes nothing for granted. Portia loves to go on day and overnight trips with her daughter. She loves spending time with family filled with plenty of aunts, uncles, and cousins to last a lifetime.  Since her grandmothers passing of lung cancer in 2008, Portia likes to keep the tradition of a Turkey Wing diner when the family gets together once a month. Since everyone has such hectic lives, the families once a month gatherings are in remembrance of her.

      Who said Turkey is just for Thanksgiving?  If you can have Turkey on the holidays, you sure

enough can have it on a random Sunday….right? Well cooking a whole Turkey might be a bit much 

for a random Sunday for you, but Cooking Turkey Wings for the family is sure to hit the spot for the 

entire table. Although, back in my “Hey Day” early 20’s, I had no interest in cooking, by the 

mid-20’s I was all over the kitchen trying to get things right and making things up on my own. Now 

in my late 30’s, I have since perfected things but I'm still making things up on my own. One thing 

that I learned from my grandmother was how to make a great Turkey Wing diner that will be sure to 

have the house smelling like good cooking for days.

       I line a dozen wings onto a baking sheet and lightly cover them with low sodium

seasoned meat tenderizer. Letting the tenderizer sit on the wings for about 20-30 minutes, I then

cut about 10 small red potatoes into cubes of 4. I take about 5 or 6 full figured carrots and chop

them into circles, not fine slices; I’m not looking to make carrot mush just some really tender

carrot slices. After washing my crock pot out, I find a place for it on the counter and turn it on

low heat to get it ready for the goodness that will soon simmer for the next eight hours.

 

        I remember my grandmother adding a mouth watering aroma to our entire third floor

apartment with the best Sunday diners that I could ever ask for. The thing I remember most about

it was that she did it so effortlessly and with so much love and tenderness in her heart. Even if

one came over to visit with no expectations of eating Sunday diner they could not help but take a

bit of the goodness that lay within. The way she took so much pride in what she was doing, I

would ask her why she did it with a smile on her face all the time. She would respond “We are

blessed to have food to eat, why not smile about it”. She would give me the same answer every

single time. It was our moment.

            

          I then combine the seasoned wings with one full packet of Lipton Onion Soup Mix into

an oven bag. After shaking the oven bag until the contents are all evenly coated, because I am a

true onion lover, I then add a chopped onion into the oven bag to add zest to the flavor of the

wings.  Keep in mind, adding any other ingredients for taste is at one’s discretion. I then place

the bag with contents inside into the refrigerator to marinate. After a minimum of an hour of

marinating I place all contents of the bag, potatoes, and vegetables in the crock pot that has been

already placed on low heat, letting cook over night having a happy nights rest and looking

forward to a happy home aroma in the morning.

         It’s the smell of it all, the smell of the hot roasted potatoes. The sensational aroma

of the sweet cut up carrots that have in the last 8 hours turned into the perfect tender. The heavy scent of onion and warmth fill the house waking me up to the happiest reason to smile on that

morning. I do remember how my tummy always did a happy dance every time I thought about

the tender wings placed before me ready to devour. Because my daughter does not like potatoes

unless they come in the form of the infamous French fry, I usually make her a serving of yellow

rice as a substitute. 

            I love making this Turkey Wing dish because it always takes me back to that

place when my grandmother was alive and Sundays was the time of the week that we could sit

down together and just spend time over a great hot meal. After my own mother’s passing when I

was a little girl, my grandmother became my rock of a go to woman. When I needed help with

something or advise on someone she would be right there to lend an ear or give her words of

wisdom. Our Sunday dinner together was something that we both looked forward too.

            I look forward to teaching my daughter how to make these Turkey Wings as soon as she

is old enough to dibble and dabble in the kitchen. I want to make sure that we always have

mother daughter time with each other and that she can take this receipt, holding onto it, making it

her own through her years like I did through mine and grandma did through hers.