Thanksgiving 2013

Greg and I cooked "the big bird" for Thanksgiving our first year of marriage, when we were 2,000 miles from home.  The following year - and every year since - we have either gone to my parents' house or to a restaurant with Greg's parents.  The more time passed, the more daunting the prospect of preparing another turkey became.  Thawing, cooking, carving, making sides . . . it all seemed overwhelming.  But, I really missed leftovers and didn't like shying away from hosting.  Well, last week finally seemed the perfect time to give it another try!  Greg's nine days at home meant we could do everything at a relaxed pace.  I even chose a different day: Wednesday.  We had planned to eat out with Greg's parents on Thursday, but that didn't work out.  Then, some dear friends invited us over.  We were doubly blessed.  Not only did we have a wonderful meal at home, but we still got to share the day with others!

We soaked the turkey overnight in a salt brine, rinsed it, stuffed it with celery, carrots, onions, and a bay leaf.  Baked it upside down until two-thirds of the way through to make the white meat moist.  The juices made fantastic gravy, although we discarded the veggies.  I'm sure someone would have gotten a good laugh if they had seen us handling that raw turkey carcass, but the meal was a raving success!  We're still enjoying the leftovers.  :-)