At her meat counter in Cleveland Park’s Brookeville Market, Pam the Butcher expertly hacks a quarter of a sheep into a far more appetizing leg of lamb.

Pam Ginsberg's tough-sounding nickname might lead her first-time customers to think that she's either the mysterious subject of one of Mike Myers' beat poems or a long-lost descendant of a Gangs of New York turf warrior. But Ginsberg's regular customers know that she earned her nickname because she's, well, an amazing butcher. When her father, an Eastern Market butcher, died when she was 14, Pam stepped in to help out the family business. And she never left.

"We watch her cut everything," says Suzanne, a long-time customer who'd ordered the leg of lamb. "She handles things properly. We especially like her super thick-cut chops and steaks."

Just as Suzanne knows Pam by name, Pam makes it a point to know the name of nearly everyone who comes to her counter, pictured at left. There's Mrs. Pink, in the hue from head to toe. There's Miss Edie. And there's Ed Fleischman, the owner of Company's Coming -- a cooking school for which Ginsberg occasionally lectures on fish and meat cuts. "[Fleischman and his wife and co-owner Jinny] are the most wonderful people I've ever had the pleasure of standing in a room with," she says. "They're fantastic."

True regulars are on what Ginsberg jokingly calls "The List." And membership certainly has its privileges, including first bite at her made-from-scratch, soak-the-brisket-in-brine corned beef -- a delicacy that's not an everyday menu item at her counter.

"I have customers calling me every day," she remarks. "'Is it corned beef day?' Sometimes, it will be -- if you're on 'The List.'"

With Thanksgiving only days away, Ginsberg's attention is squarely on her turkeys. Even before this weekend's shopping rush, she already has 65 orders for them -- 20 more than last year's total. Ginsberg -- the largest kosher retailer in the District and allegedly the only one who carries Empire Kosher birds -- attributes the increase to the heightened demand for "super-organic" kosher poultry, even among those who don't keep kosher.

"How [kosher turkeys] are born, how they're brought up in the world, what they eat," she muses. "And, they're blessed. That's what makes them better right there." That, and, according to Ginsburg, the fact that they're soaked in salt to drain the blood and cure the meat. "I like the half-brining method. You don't even have to add salt afterward, just sugar and spices."

Aside from the spike in orders for kosher turkeys for Thanksgiving, Ginsberg notes that she’d been selling more 20- and 25-pound turkeys the past few years because her customers are hosting their families and don't want to travel. Orders for more exotic birds such as squab, pheasant, quail, capons and duck have jumped from past holidays as well.

Although her nickname is Pam the Butcher, Ginsberg could just as easily go by Pam the Gourmet Chef, what with her willingness to pass along turkey-cooking tips to her customers. She recommends stuffing a bundle of sage toward the front of the carcass -- a move that will give the turkey "explosive flavor because of the heat." She also suggests sticking a fork in the neck of the half-done turkey and tipping it, so that the juice from the bird mingles with the other liquid in the bottom of the pan.

Ginsberg even made a housecall this week to one of her younger, more nervous customers to help her test-drive cooking a turkey. "Do not cover the bird in foil," she instructed her charge. "If it gets too brown, make a foil tent and pitch it over the breast. And, for God's sake, Make sure the oven is at 375! Some of us don't get up until it hits 350."

Business picks up as work lets out around Washington. Ginsberg saves her best advice for a young woman buying her first Thanksgiving turkey: "Don't poison your boyfriend by leaving the stuffing inside."