Thanksgiving Success

In my last post I went on and on about how I had to prepare my first Thanksgiving feast, about how nervous I was and about how I was doing tons of research on the matter. Now, three days later, I can officially say that my Thanksgiving meal was a success. Research definitely helped me out on this one. I can't tell you how many minutes, no, hours I spent researching the perfect turkey recipe, the perfect pie recipe, etc.

I also blogged about brining. Brining was relatively easy, cheap and definitely worth it - our turkey was the juiciest turkey we've ever tasted, thanks to the brining. Matt, who is not a huge fan of turkey, is now a firm believer in brining. Here is a picture of the end result:


I don't have a lot of pictures to show of the rest of the meal because, unfortunately, a lot of the pictures we took turned out blurry because the camera was on "landscape" mode. Bummer. I can tell you that the rest of the food was delicious and nothing was a disaster (phew!). Even the homemade dinner rolls turned out yummy (they can be seen next to the turkey in the picture above).

I would also like to give props to my hubby, Matt, for doing a great job carving the turkey. He's helped my dad in years past with the carving, but he's never done it completely on his own. So, thanks to the Food Network's Alton Brown and online videos, Matt carved the turkey beautifully. Sorry about the quality of the photo below, it was taken on my iPhone but it's the best one I have...


Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I'm sad to see it pass, but I can't wait to spend the Christmas season with my family...I get to see them so soon and can't wait!

Who Wants Turkey?

Every year since I was born, Thanksgiving has been spent at my parents' house. Since my family has become so large over the past few years, we've needed enough food to feed an army - okay, maybe not an army, but enough to feed seven adults and eight kids. We always have a ton of delicious food, which usually includes two turkeys, stuffing, cranberry salad, sweet potato casserole, numerous kinds of pies and more.

This year Matt and I are staying in Houston for Thanksgiving, which means I am making the Thanksgiving meal...and that I am baking a turkey for the first time. I'm very intimidated about cooking a turkey. The only thing I've ever done with a turkey is help my parents by injecting it and basting it. When I think about myself baking the turkey, I always picture the Griswolds' turkey from Christmas Vacation and worry that mine is going to end up something like it...maybe not that bad, but super dry nonetheless.

To try and remedy some of my fears, I have been doing a ton of research online on how to make the best turkey. Let me say this: there is a ton of information out there on how to cook an amazing turkey. They can be baked, grilled, barbecued or deep fried (which is my personal favorite, but there is no way I'm going to try and fry a turkey in gallons of scalding oil). I've heard that grilled turkey is delicious, but I feel that because this is my first turkey experience I should stick to the traditional method: baking.

Another technique that I have learned about is brining. Apparently, brining will create one of the most delicious and juicy turkeys that you have ever tasted if it is done correctly. The basic way to brine is to submerge the raw turkey in a bucket or very large pot of cold water with dissolved sugar and salt and refrigerate from eight to 24 hours. There are "brining mixes" at the grocery store if you would like a seasoned brine and you can also find brining recipes on a number of websites. I had never heard of brining until last week and I am seriously considering trying this step. If you're thinking about brining a turkey for the first time, a key thing to remember is to purchase a turkey that has not already been pre-brined or "enhanced."

Besides the turkey, my Thanksgiving menu so far includes salad, rolls, stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and pie. Don't let my fear fool you. I am actually pretty excited about making the Thanksgiving feast this year. Something that eases my anxiety is knowing that my parents are a phone call away if I have any questions. Any prayers are welcome and appreciated!