Looking for an alternative to turkey on Thanksgiving?

Here's an idea from one of the books that came in for a student who is working on his Nineteenth Century Novel research project. All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present, by Stephen Mennell, features a recipe from the Book of Household Management, edited by Isabella Beeton and published in 1861. The recipe...drum roll...is for boiled calf's head (without the skin). I shall quote liberally.

Ingredients.--Calf's head, water, a little salt, 4 tablespoonfuls of melted butter, 1 tablespoonful of minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.

Mode.--After the head has been thoroughly cleaned, and the brains removed, soak it in warm water to blanch it. Lay the brains also into warm water to soak, and let them remain for about an hour. Put the head into a stewpan, with sufficient cold water to cover it, and when it boils, add a little salt; take off every particle of scum as it rises, and boil the head until perfectly tender. Boil the brains, chop them, and mix with them melted butter, minced parsley, pepper, salt, and lemon-juice in the above proportion. Take up the head, skin the tongue, and put it on a small dish with the brains round it. Have ready some parsley and butter, smother the head with it, and the remainder send to table in a tureen.

I especially like the bit about the placement of the brains. Very elegant. I suppose this entry could just as easily been titled I'm glad I live now, part 2.