President Barack Obama on Wednesday carried out a refreshingly frivolous duty, a presidential tradition at this time of year – officially pardoning a pair of turkeys, thus sparing them from being eaten at Thanksgiving on November 27th.

Obama joked that his annual turkey pardon will be his “most talked about executive action this month.”

The two turkeys who were granted this year’s presidential pardons were named Mac and Cheese.

Obama says that around Thanksgiving, turkeys named after side dishes would normally have a “pretty low” chance of escaping the dinner table, so Mac and Cheese “really beat the odds”.

Story compiled with information from The Associated Press.

Timeline of Presidential Turkey History