The Incredible Peanut Butter Turkey!

It was November, 2004.  Mary Ann and I had only been married for a few months.  This would be our first Thanksgiving together, and I wanted it to be Special!  One day, driving to work and listening to National Public Radio (what else?), I heard a recipe for peanut butter encrusted turkey.  It sounded delicious.  The peanut butter coating would infuse the meat with a faint nutty flavor while ensuring that it stayed moist.  And the outside of the meat would be wrapped in a crisp, flavorful skin.

I came home and told Mary Ann about it and we (at least I think it was "we") decided to try it for our special first Thanksgiving together.  The nicest thing I can say about the event is that it has become the most talked-about turkey that we've ever had.

We followed the directions.  The result was less than spectacular.  Much of the vaunted coating slumped off the bird and formed an impenetrable black rock formation in the pan.  The remainingg crust was not a crust at all, but rather a strange greyish tan goo that resembled a magma flow from a long-dormant volcano.  The meat had dried out and was essentially inedible.  Even our dogs turned their acute noses up at this sad bird.  We must have missed the secret ingredient or magic technique.  Today, while looking through some old images, I found this:

The infamous peanut butter bird -- I'm smiling because we haven't tasted it yet.