DIY: Edible turkey
A cute food craft to celebrate “Turkey Day!”
Did you know that everyday in Israel is “Turkey Day!” That’s because Israelis’ gobble up more turkey per-person than anywhere else in the world! When my brother lived on Kibbutz Tzora in Israel many years ago, one of his jobs was to take care of the baby turkeys! In Hebrew, turkey is pronounced tar-ne-goal ho-du, which translates in English to “chicken of India.”
We thought it would be fun to make our own edible baby turkeys in honor of our own upcoming “Turkey Day,” (Thanksgiving) which will be celebrated later this month in the United States! This turkey is very easy to make - even for young children. Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:
Edible Turkey
For each turkey, you will need:
1 Rice cake
Frosting (or cream cheese)
2 Pretzel sticks
4 or 5 Looped pretzels
1 Gingersnap
2 Candy eyes
2 Mike and Ike candies
2 Rainbow strip candies
Popsicle stick
Here’s how to make your turkey:
1. Gather up all the supplies, and place the rice cake in front of your little one. This will be the turkey’s body.
2. Take the popsicle stick and spread your rice cake with frosting (or cream cheese.)
3. Now it’s time for feathers! Take your looped pretzels and place them along the left side edge of the rice cake.
4. Your turkey needs a cute face. Place the gingersnap (head) on the rice cake, and use frosting to glue on candy eyes and a beak (one of my brother’s responsibilities on the Kibbutz was to trim the baby turkey’s beak).
5. Your little guy is coming along! Now add some pretzel stick legs and rainbow strip candy wings.
That’s it! You have your very own baby turkey! If you’d like, you can say a blessing before eating your turkey. In Judaism, we have opportunities to say “thank you” for almost every moment of the day: when you see a rainbow, when you see something beautiful in nature or when you eat food - like an edible baby turkey! You can say,
Ba-Ruch A-tah A-do-noi, Elo-hai-nu Me-lech Ha-o-lam, Bo-Rai Mi-nai Me-zo-not.
With so many ways to say “thank you” throughout the day, it’s almost like every day is Thanksgiving! Share with us some special ways your family celebrates Thanksgiving in the comments below! You can read about more about special projects for Thanksgiving, like a sweet and meaningful 100 Blessing Necklace for adults and a 100 Blessing Necklace especially for kids!
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Turkey Day!
B’tayavon (Enjoy)!
