My First Solo Thanksgiving in the Kitchen!!!!

So this was our first year with just the 4 of us for Thanksgiving in Texas. We were invited to a friends house to have dinner but alas, we had already bought the turkey (and James really really wanted some left overs).

So We scaled things back a bit and I used some shortcuts on a few things. Here is what the menu looked like (we completely cut out a few things that weren't favorites by both James and I since we were the only ones we were really cooking for)

Turkey
Stuffing
Green bean casserole
Mashed potatoes (gravy)
Rolls
Cranberries
And the oh so not traditional (but James new favorite) Mint Chocolate chip Lactaid Pudding Pie

Ok so the only part of this experience that I will take the time energy and back pain from my chair (hint hint honey!) to write is about the turkey. I have made a few turkey's in my time. I have made the infamous one that got to excitedly learn that the nasty stuff is stuck up the turkey's butt (an unpleasant realization). This was also the turkey that didn't quite get done and I had to microwave parts of it! There was the second one that I was using a recipe that cooks the turkey overnight in the oven... that would have been great if the oven didn't have an automatic turn-off feature that stalled the cooking half way through the night. I have assisted in a fried turkey but I can't take any credit for that one since all I did was find and print the recipe. So this was my first attempt and I let www.allrecipes.com be my guide. I read all about brining (soaking overnight in salt water) So I decided why not I don't have anyone else coming over so if it is a total disaster I can always try again to get the left overs that were really the main objective. So on I went. I didn't have a full size pan so I just flipped it half way.

I awoke Thursday morning at 8 when I quickly did the math and realized that I only had 1 hour to get that turkey ready and in the oven. So I rinsed it off stuffed it with some veggies and a few herbs. poured butter over the top or is it the bottom. The first 2/3 's of the time was cooked breast side down. It got a nice golden brown before I turned it over to be breast side up. When I turned it I got really nervous since half of the skin had decided to stay with the veggies instead of sticking to its position of holding in all of the moisture. The drum sticks were also looking suspiciously done loose at this point. But I let the cooking time go on. I looked in at 3.5 hours and sure enough my tender timer had popped which also made me a bit leery since I had just read that if the tender timer pops it is most likely too done since it usually hits the bone and blah blah blah back to the story. Ok so now it was time to let it set... which I think I actually forgot on each of my other attempts not sure. I don't remember doing it, definitely not the first time. So I went on to make my gravy and eventually needed to take the turkey out of the pan. This is where it gets good... really good. I don't have any of those handy lifter things to pull the turkey out so if you can picture this I have my yellow pot holder mits covered with plastic grocery bags (this is how I turned it over while cooking too ;-) Ok So I put my hands to the sides of the turkey and begin to lift. but the whole top half of the turkey comes apart ... off of the bottom half. then the legs come off and plop back into the pan. At this point I'm thinking. I either did something very right or very wrong and considering I'm seeing most of the poor naked turkey laying there without even its skin on I'm leaning toward wrong. But I decided to let it set like the directions said although it seemed like a moot point since it was all taken apart now.

Ok so I'm not really a great story teller I tend to be really bad at the endings I just sort of blurt it all out... so here goes... This was the most tender (even all the way through the white meat of my 15 lb turkey), flavorful, turkey I have ever had, no offense to anyone who has ever served me turkey. James tells me how much he likes it on each plate of leftovers. You keep thinking you are going to need gravy to make it moist... nope It stands on its own. So after my first couple attempts I'm unashamedly bragging on my turkey conquering this year!!!

Ok so that was long story long! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.