Gobble-de-alas . . .

There once was a time when, because I had brown hair and brown eyes, I was sometimes addressed in Spanish by those who did not know me. Now that the brown of the hair has been replaced by another natural color closer to that of pale limestone, it seldom occurs. Today, I did it in reverse. At Publix I addressed the butcher in Spanish asking if he, " . . . tiene alas de pavo."

He looked at me doubtfully and said slowly (in English) that he thought soooo.

"Turkey wings, I clarified, do you have any turkey wings?" Yes he did, taking me to the part of the meat case where they were and extending his open hand as if he were demonstrating a product on television, he beamed at me. I am stll not sure whether he spoke only English or if my execrable accent in Spanish confused him totally.

I know the word alas means wings because when I order a bucket of the Colonel's fried chicken, I always ask for no alas.

I need these alas because I intend to put them into our largest crock pot and cook all of the liquid goodness out of them and use that goodness to make stuffing and gravy. I have four packages of alas, meaning that there are some turkeys, somewhere, who are strangely minus some limbs. Or alas . . .