1. First, allow the bird to stand at room temperature for at least 20 minutes and up to 40 minutes before carving. This allows the juices to settle into the meat. If you carve it too soon, the juices will run out of the flesh, and you’ll have dry turkey.
   
2. Remove the drumsticks to make the breast easier to reach and carve. Cut off each drumstick at the knee joint. If the turkey is properly cooked (that is, at least 180°F), they will pull away without any trouble, making the joints easy to sever. Do not remove the thighs at this point, or the bird will roll around the platter while you try to carve it. Transfer the drumsticks to a platter. To allow more people to enjoy the dark meat, tilt each drumstick, holding it from the foot end, and cut downward along the bone to slice the meat.
   
3. Hold the breast firmly with the meat fork. One side at a time, make a deep incision, cut parallel to the table down near the wing. Cut down along the side of the breast to carve it into thin slices. Every slice will stop at the parallel cut. Transfer the sliced breast to the platter. Turn the turkey around to carve the other side.
   
4. Pry the thighs away from the hips to reveal the ball joints, and sever at the joints. Transfer the thighs to the platter. To carve each thigh, hold the thigh with a meat fork, and carve the meat parallel to the bone.
   
5. Pry the wings away from the shoulder joints and sever at the joints. Transfer to the platter.

If you still feel nervous about carving in front of your guests, present the whole roast bird at the table in all its glory. Then, run back into the kitchen and carve the meat where no one is looking. Serve it carved on a platter, or use two platters, separating the dark and white meat. This actually works better, because the guests can serve themselves more easily.

Here’s a neat trick: If you have extra turkey stock, just before serving, pour a ladleful of the hot stock over each platter so the meat is steaming and looks especially juicy.

Carving a goose follows the same general idea, but the goose joints are very tight and will not sever as easily as the turkey, and a goose is all dark meat.

From Christmas 101, Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. copyright © 2007 by Rick Rodgers. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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