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Turtleneck Posted Fri 23 Nov, 2007 4:56 PM |
Oh, the sweet smell of success!
I began to gain confidence about 3 hours into the cooking. It started to look like something someone would eat. I basted with religious fervor. When I checked the internal temperature at 4 1/2 hours, it was exactly the recommended 180 degrees F. I didn't really know what to do next...it's such a delicately orchestrated dance to get everything done at the same time. Luckily I have one of those old fashioned Brady Bunch double ovens, so as I finished each dish, I put the upper oven on "warm" and everything stayed toasty. Guests started to arrive shortly after 3:00, dinner was served just before 4:00.
Not only one, but TWO brothers-in-law said it was one of the best turkeys they had ever eaten! Oh, yes, kids! It wasn't dry at all. I had read a tip that if you cook the turkey breast side down that it will stay moist and it really worked. I used my apple peeler to peel all the potatoes and it worked like a charm. I was so worried it would take all day to peel 10 pounds of potatoes. (Yes, I made 10 pounds of potatoes and the leftovers fit in a little Tupperware container.) Everyone went back for seconds and I think my husband's teenage nephew went back a third time. You could say we gobble-gobble-gobbled. (Sorry.) There is very little left over.
After that we had dessert. Everyone brought a dessert in addition to what I made, so we had DESSERT! Yummy!
Everyone finally left around 8:00. I had been trying to clean things up as we went along. I only have a small, portable dishwasher, so it took 3 loads to get everything washed. We wanted it to be nice, so we used our regular plates and utensils instead of paper plates and plasticware. It was a LOT of dishes! We were all cleaned up by 9:00 and we put the kids to bed and I was ready to collapse.
So, it all worked out in the end. I apologize for the bad things I said about Martha Stewart and her brine method. It was the stress talking. I'm sure it would have been much more manageable had the turkey not outweighed me by 5 pounds. I guess the lesson here is that things rarely ever turn out as bad as we think they will. I'm just going to relax today, no shopping for me.
So, how was everyone else's Thanksgiving? |
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Posts: 3258 |
mili Posted Fri 23 Nov, 2007 10:33 PM |
Congrats, Turtleneck! I'm glad everything went fine!!
Same again next year? :^D
(runs away and hides) |
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Posts: 8468 |
AbsolutPurple Posted Fri 23 Nov, 2007 10:39 PM |
mili wrote: Congrats, Turtleneck! I'm glad everything went fine!!
Same again next year? :^D
(runs away and hides)
with the boardies |
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Posts: 10115 |
ricv64 Posted Fri 23 Nov, 2007 10:43 PM |
Turtleneck wrote: Oh, the sweet smell of success!
So, how was everyone else's Thanksgiving?
well me and my brother in law didn't take swings at each other or throw verbal potshots but there's still Christmas coming up |
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Posts: 7404 |
Turtleneck Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 12:04 AM |
Okay, my pictures are up. It was a lot funnier in real life.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21165366@N02/ |
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Posts: 7598 |
weirdmom Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 2:42 AM |
Turtle, I just got around to reading this thread. Everytime I've had time to get on the board in the last few days it's been so slow I gave up.
This thread totally cracked me up. I'm glad it all worked out so well. The one time I hosted Thanksgiving I shunned the whole turkey thing. I don't like turkey, had never made it, and figured I should make something I am good at. So I made lamb and it was way delicious. But it was my parents so I could get away with it.
Hubby's parents are way more traditional and would probably cry, literally, if I served lamb on Thanksgiving.
Congrats on making it work in your teeny tiny house. (I have one of those too)
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Posts: 7404 |
Turtleneck Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 4:55 PM |
weirdmominaustin wrote: Turtle, I just got around to reading this thread. Everytime I've had time to get on the board in the last few days it's been so slow I gave up.
This thread totally cracked me up. I'm glad it all worked out so well. The one time I hosted Thanksgiving I shunned the whole turkey thing. I don't like turkey, had never made it, and figured I should make something I am good at. So I made lamb and it was way delicious. But it was my parents so I could get away with it.
Hubby's parents are way more traditional and would probably cry, literally, if I served lamb on Thanksgiving.
Congrats on making it work in your teeny tiny house. (I have one of those too)
So then do you eat lamb sandwiches the next day? That's baa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaad! I'm just glad it's over. The leftovers are nice!
Abs just sent me some recipes where I have to cook a whole sea bass with eyeballs and everything and another where I'd have to rip the legs off a pheasant. Maybe before the Detroit concert next year, I can have all the boardies over for dinner. Blllahhhhh!
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Posts: 10115 |
ricv64 Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 5:40 PM |
Awww what cute kitties.
HA HA HA , board gremlin strikes again.
I asked Chilean Sea Bass ? |
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Posts: 8468 |
AbsolutPurple Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 5:40 PM |
Turtleneck wrote: Abs just sent me some recipes where I have to cook a whole sea bass with eyeballs and everything and another where I'd have to rip the legs off a pheasant. Maybe before the Detroit concert next year, I can have all the boardies over for dinner. Blllahhhhh!
My next year big project is to travel to meet boardies i like and stay with them for a bit so i want to eat well - some ppl have standards you see. |
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lindsey22295 Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 6:50 PM |
ricv64 wrote: Awww what cute kitties.
HA HA HA , board gremlin strikes again.
I asked Chilean Sea Bass ?
Lol that was my post to the pictures of Fran's cats. I was so confused when I saw chilean sea bass there, which by the way is delicious. |
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Posts: 7404 |
Turtleneck Posted Sat 24 Nov, 2007 6:50 PM |
| Oh, I was incorrect. It isn't sea bass. It's sea BREAM. |
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