Turtle

On my way home Sunday I saw this giant snapping turtle crossing the road.  My mouth started watering as I remembered all the good meals we had from turtles that my Dad brought home.  He carried a wash tub and a huge stone just for bringing home the turtles.  Butchering a turtle is an interesting process.  First the channel lock that are longer than 18 inches.   You have to get a hold of the turtles jaw and pull out his neck so that my Dad could behead him.  It was my brothers and my job to bury the head away from the yard.  Whereas the turtle waste parts made good chicken food, the head could not be used that way.  With its reflexes it could kill a chicken whom innocently touched  it for the next two days.   The only meat on a turtle is the four legs, its tail and it neck.  You really could not tell it was not chicken except that the bone structure was different, very different.  Fried, baked, sauteed, or made into soup it is delicious.