reverie

Thanks Sherry, Shauna & Keith for the turkey encouragement! Here's how it all went down. Saturday before Thanksgiving around 12:00pm: Place turkey in a pan in the fridge to allow sufficient time for thawing. Thanksgiving Day 9:30 am: Set turkey on counter to come to room temperature 10:00 ish am: Ewwww - remove turkey from packaging - try to pull out giblet bag - hold turkey while Nicole pulls out giblet bag - swiftly toss giblet bag into trash (don't care if it makes good gravy. eww ) - pull out neck bag & swiftly toss it into the trash - mixture of laughter & heebie jeebies while Nicole & I rinse turkey and try not to drop it into the sink or on the floor - set turkey in roasting pan & prep with salt & pepper - stuff cavity with onions, lemon, fresh herbs, celery, carrots & garlic - rub skin with butter 10:30am: throw turkey in oven shortly after: get ready for the day & appreciate that I scheduled shower time after turkey prep time. Have...

or perhaps I should be. I bought a turkey yesterday. A 15 lb. frozen Butterball turkey. As has become tradition, Nicole & I are hosting Thanksgiving at our apartment for friends, acquaintances, amiable passersby, etc. who need a place to go for the holiday. In the past we have utilized the aid of Marie Callender's and ordered a pre-cooked turkey. But not so this year. Due to rising costs at good ol' MC's and perhaps a little crack smoking, I've decided that this year we will make the turkey ourselves. And now that a turkey is sitting in the freezer there's no going back. While the thought is slightly daunting, I have enough confidence in my culinary skills not to be paralyzed with fear at the notion, but I'm not so confident that I will be felled by my hubris. (Hopefully.) The next week and a half will be spent watching all kinds of turkey tips on the Food Network, soaking up all the info I can find online, and perhaps cooking a test chicken to try...