This was our first experience cooking a Turkey! And, was it an experience! We did not take the Turkey out of the freezer until the night before our dinner. As a result our poor Turkey had to take a nice warm bath in our kitchen sink as we pried out the Giblets and Neck. The experience was comical in hindsight, at the time it was bit stressful as our Turkey was late getting into the oven.We used an oven bag, making the process pretty neat (well except the Turkey Bath, that was messy)! I threw about 1/4 cup of Flour in the bag and shook it (as on the instructions). Then we added chopped Onion, Scallions, Apple, Thyme and Parsley to the bag and in the Turkey's Cavity. We then laid Bacon strips on top of the Turkey in the bag and added Paprika. The 11 pound Turkey went into a 350 degree oven for about 4 hours because it was partially frozen and the pop-up timer never popped!
Now I can say I have successfully cooked and carved my own Turkey!!!We had a total of 12 people over! Setting the table was a challenge, but we made it work.
As you can see above, our shoe bench became a nice seat for three and we used one of our camp chairs. We could barely set all the silverware and ended up using a large serving plate as a dinner plate. Jay got the enormous plate and did not mind at all!
On the Menu:- Turkey
- Mom's Fresh Cranberry Relish
- Turkey Gravy
- Apple Turkey Stuffing
- Sauerkraut (come back Thursday for the Recipe)
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Fresh Green Beans
- Mashed Potatoes
- Bohemian Mac N Cheese
It was so delicious and so much fun to have a bunch of our friends around one big table! And remarkably, we finished about 80% of the food!
After the Turkey went into the oven, I ran about 3 miles, so I was not shy about filing up my plate!
And, like any Thanksgiving dinner we had Football on in the background! GO GAMECOCKS! SEC East Champions!
Great food, great friends, great football = one great night!Do you celebrate Thanksgiving with anyone other than your family?
This week I will also be celebrating Thanksgiving at work.
A friend asked if I could ever be "Thanksgiving-ed" out. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, because it is the celebration of family, friends, being thankful and FOOD. What more could I want? Could you have too much Thanksgiving?
