{"id":53427,"date":"2017-11-24T10:01:16","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T09:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dandavats.tumblr.com\/post\/167829549516"},"modified":"2017-11-24T10:01:16","modified_gmt":"2017-11-24T09:01:16","slug":"a-live-turkey-has-been-the-guest-of-honor-at-govindas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/?p=53427","title":{"rendered":"A live turkey has been the guest of honor at Govinda\u2019s…"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A live turkey has been the guest of honor at Govinda\u2019s Restaurant in Tuscon, Arizona for the past twelve years, although the restaurant has been serving Thanksgiving dinners since opening its doors in 1992.
\n\u201cOur current turkey, Curley Sue, has been with us for three years,\u201d says ISKCON Tucson temple president, cook, groundskeeper and all around busiest-person-ever Sandamini Dasi. \u201cShe\u2019s from Wilcox, a small nearby farming town, and is very friendly. She just sits out on the patio during the Thanksgiving meal, being fed by a circle of excited, laughing kids.\u201d
\nSeeing the turkey as a loving living entity, a member of the family, tends to make quite an impression on the 50% of Govinda\u2019s clientele who are non-vegetarian. Often they begin to reflect on where it would be if not for Govinda\u2019s. \u201cWe hold a contest every year where we give away a free dinner to those who best answer the question \u201cWhat are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?\u2019\u201d Sandamini says. \u201cPeople are often moved to write, \u2018I\u2019m thankful that the turkey is here alive, and not on someone\u2019s plate.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

The event also draws the attention of Tucson\u2019s local TV stations, at least one of which will usually feature it on their 6 o\u2019clock news, with a repeat at 10 o\u2019clock. \u201cCome on down to Govinda\u2019s, where there\u2019s a new twist on Thanksgiving \u2013 the turkey is the guest of honor,\u201d they\u2019ll report, giving out the restaurant\u2019s address. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen they\u2019ll show clips of the turkey running around and gobbling. It\u2019s quite a draw,\u201d Sandamini laughs. \u201cMost city folk don\u2019t even know what a turkey looks like \u2013 what to speak of getting a picture sitting at a table with one!\u201d <\/p>\n

Govinda\u2019s all-vegan Thanksgiving dinner includes apple-walnut stuffing, mashed potatoes with carrot, cashew gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, green bean almondine, baked acorn squash with maple syrup, pumpkin pie, a full salad bar \u2013 and an organic tofu \u201cturkey,\u201d which is really just a farina casserole with crumbled tofu and saitan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

A live turkey has been the guest of honor at Govinda’s Restaurant in Tuscon, Arizona for the past twelve years, although the restaurant has been serving Thanksgiving dinners since opening its doors in 1992.
\n“Our current turkey, Curley Sue, has been with us for three years,” says ISKCON Tucson temple president, cook, groundskeeper and all around busiest-person-ever Sandamini Dasi. “She’s from Wilcox, a small nearby farming town, and is very friendly. She just sits out on the patio during the Thanksgiving meal, being fed by a circle of excited, laughing kids.”
\nSeeing the turkey as a loving living entity, a member of the family, tends to make quite an impression on the 50% of Govinda’s clientele who are non-vegetarian. Often they begin to reflect on where it would be if not for Govinda’s. “We hold a contest every year where we give away a free dinner to those who best answer the question “What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?’” Sandamini says. “People are often moved to write, ‘I’m thankful that the turkey is here alive, and not on someone’s plate.’” <\/p>\n

The event also draws the attention of Tucson’s local TV stations, at least one of which will usually feature it on their 6 o’clock news, with a repeat at 10 o’clock. “Come on down to Govinda’s, where there’s a new twist on Thanksgiving – the turkey is the guest of honor,” they’ll report, giving out the restaurant’s address. <\/p>\n

“Then they’ll show clips of the turkey running around and gobbling. It’s quite a draw,” Sandamini laughs. “Most city folk don’t even know what a turkey looks like – what to speak of getting a picture sitting at a table with one!” <\/p>\n

Govinda’s all-vegan Thanksgiving dinner includes apple-walnut stuffing, mashed potatoes with carrot, cashew gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, green bean almondine, baked acorn squash with maple syrup, pumpkin pie, a full salad bar – and an organic tofu “turkey,” which is really just a farina casserole with crumbled tofu and saitan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10650,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recent-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10650"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53428,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53427\/revisions\/53428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dandavats.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}