Fried turkey is former political strategist Clay Johnson's secret fund-raising weapon.

This weekend, the city's knowledge-sharing fest Learn-a-palooza will host almost 70 free classes, ranging from Polish survival skills to changing a bike flat. Buried in the catalog of left-field topics taught by regular folks are four food-centric tutorials. Each session is hosted by web consultant (he helped found Blue State Digital) and former Dean campaign strategist Clay Johnson at his Logan Circle-area home. Though developing online tactics for politicos is his forte, Johnson has another secret fund-raising weapon: The turkey fry. He's nibbled on the crispy fowl with Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and numerous DNC faces. And this Saturday, he'll share his bird-frying skills. 

From 11 AM to noon, the 29 year-old Atlanta native will discuss brining, flavor injecting, and the actual cooking process. He plans to go Julia Child-style on the crowd and pull the "presto, look it's done" trick with some already-prepared samples when guests arrive. Then he'll demonstrate each step by frying one of the 18-pound Empire Kosher-brand birds sitting in his fridge. At 12:30, Johnson will segue into a lesson on another life skill. How to score free drinks. After perfecting his sweet-talking skills on bartenders and random strangers at Johnson's local watering hole Townhouse Tavern, he has three fool-proof tips on leaving sans a bar tab.
 
Clay Johnson lives at 1521 Corcoran St NW. Click here for a full workshop schedule and more info.