Turkey Day #1

My parents spend their Thanksgiving in Florida every year and because of that, we always celebrate Thanksgiving with them a little bit early. Julie and I decided this year to plan, cook and host Thanksgiving, and give mom a break for once! This was my first time cooking a turkey, so I was a tad nervous as the pressure was on to prepare a delicious Thanksgiving day dinner for 11!

Julie and I both really despise touching raw meat. For me, when I'm cooking dinner, I get through the raw part as quickly as can, picking recipes that don't require me to handle the raw meat longer than necessary. Meatballs don't happen very often in this house! So the scene of Julie and I dissassembling and washing and preparing a 15 lb. turkey was pretty hilarious. There was a lot of screaming going on, especially when the neck of the turkey fell out into our hands. The kids were looking at us like we were complete nut jobs! We thought we were done when we realized we hadn't found the "package" of giblets. Ummm, but where could it be? We did a full cavity search of the turkey and that left us empty handed. It was only after a phone call to mom did we realize that they turkey had TWO openings and the giblet package was in the neck. Mom also reminded us to be sure to take the heart out of the package and cook it for her to eat. We both gagged a little (ok, a LOT), but pulled the heart out anyways.

We did it! Our 15 lb. turkey.

Harold saved the day when he offered to rub the turkey down with our seasoning concoction. Julie and I had had enough raw turkey handling at that point. Is it normal to take nearly an hour to clean and prepare a turkey for cooking? I don't think so.

Finally, time to enjoy appetizers!

Nathan and Ryan chowing down on carrots

The finished turkey!

The kids table, ready to eat with their special drinks (sparkling grape juice) in hand!
(Almost) the whole family!

Happy early Thanksgiving!