Tammy's Guide to Turkey Preparation and Roasting
1. Buy the Turkey. Walk around the grocery store one week before Thanksgiving. Go to the dairy aisle to buy the only thing on your list, 1 gallon whole milk (yes we drink whole). See the turkey's piled up in the frozen food section. Calculate how many days until Thanksgiving (eek, only one week away). Pick out biggest turkey in pile, heave into basket. Read the sign, ".39 cents a pound with $10 purchase." Continue on to the dairy aisle to select milk. $3.29. Wander aimlessly around the store to decide what other items I can buy to get to $10. After walking through the snack aisle, quota is met. Buy groceries and go home.
2. Look at the turkey, count the days until Thanksgiving again, decide the turkey needs to go into the freezer.
3. 3 days before Thanksgiving, panic because the Turkey is still in the freezer.
4. Leave turkey in sink overnight (not recommending this to anyone else) to get that deep freeze frozen thawed a bit.
5. Put turkey in fridge to continue thawing for the next 2 days. Note: Still rock solid frozen.
6. Poke turkey with one finger twice a day to see if it has thawed. No luck.
7. Ah...glorious Thanksgiving morning. Wake up to the sound of my alarm clock at 5am to get the turkey in the oven.
8. Look in fridge, cry for my departed mother, I wish she was the one making the turkey, not me.
9. Take a deep breath, heave partially thawed turkey out of fridge and drop it in freshly scrubbed sink.
10. Cut open plastic to reveal a fleshy, white, 22 lb. turkey, partially frozen.
11. Cry again for my mom, why me? Why do I have to touch this huge hunk of raw bird? Think pretty thoughts. Go somewhere else, ahh, the beach,....
12. Turn water on to complete thawing process, grab knive to start prying turkey legs from the metal leg holder device.
13. Jab legs with knive, pry, grab turkey as it is doing a 360 degree turn, and hopping around in sink from me jabbing at it.
14. Get large ziploc bag, (bread bags work best), stick hand in ziploc bag and go to that pretty place in head again while I put my ziploc covered hand and forearm into turkey. YUCK. Dig around feeling for the neck. Pry the neck loose, pull it out. What ever you do, don't look at it. This alone could cause one to never eat turkey again.
15. Turn turkey around and feel around neck area, still with bag on hand. Turn on faucet, steaming hot to melt ice around turkey flap to open up other end and pull out a bag of something I will not even mention here. Again, do not look at it!
16. Finish rinsing turkey. Plop in big pan that hasn't been used since last November. That 10 minutes before had dust bunnies in it, until washed out.
17. Pour oil over turkey. Cover all turkey with oil, you can use 1 tablespoon and rub it around, or half a bottle and never have to touch anything, just drizzle till all covered.
18. Salt and cover with foil. Ahhh...raw dead bird out of sight.
19. Bake for 4 hours pull foil, smell delicious aroma, let turkey brown for another 45-1hr. make sure popper thing is popped, take out of oven. Let cool a bit so as not to burn fingers when hacking or carving as I like to call it.
20. I will spare you the details of carving a turkey, but just know I try only to touch what looks like belongs on your plate. Anything that looks a little iffy, I go to my happy place and just throw that part away.
21. Serve the turkey to loved ones, and give them big hugs because all the raw bird touching was worth it to see the smiles on their faces when they eat their Thanksgiving meal. Thank you God for my family.
22. I thank God for you too! Happy Thanksgiving Day.
p.s. my daugher who is now 7 years old has prepared our turkey for 3 years now. She double crossed me and spent the night with her grandma to hang out with her cousins who are in town for the holiday. She loves the turkey experience, but not enough to give up a night with cousins. Go figure.
2. Look at the turkey, count the days until Thanksgiving again, decide the turkey needs to go into the freezer.
3. 3 days before Thanksgiving, panic because the Turkey is still in the freezer.
4. Leave turkey in sink overnight (not recommending this to anyone else) to get that deep freeze frozen thawed a bit.
5. Put turkey in fridge to continue thawing for the next 2 days. Note: Still rock solid frozen.
6. Poke turkey with one finger twice a day to see if it has thawed. No luck.
7. Ah...glorious Thanksgiving morning. Wake up to the sound of my alarm clock at 5am to get the turkey in the oven.
8. Look in fridge, cry for my departed mother, I wish she was the one making the turkey, not me.
9. Take a deep breath, heave partially thawed turkey out of fridge and drop it in freshly scrubbed sink.
10. Cut open plastic to reveal a fleshy, white, 22 lb. turkey, partially frozen.
11. Cry again for my mom, why me? Why do I have to touch this huge hunk of raw bird? Think pretty thoughts. Go somewhere else, ahh, the beach,....
12. Turn water on to complete thawing process, grab knive to start prying turkey legs from the metal leg holder device.
13. Jab legs with knive, pry, grab turkey as it is doing a 360 degree turn, and hopping around in sink from me jabbing at it.
14. Get large ziploc bag, (bread bags work best), stick hand in ziploc bag and go to that pretty place in head again while I put my ziploc covered hand and forearm into turkey. YUCK. Dig around feeling for the neck. Pry the neck loose, pull it out. What ever you do, don't look at it. This alone could cause one to never eat turkey again.
15. Turn turkey around and feel around neck area, still with bag on hand. Turn on faucet, steaming hot to melt ice around turkey flap to open up other end and pull out a bag of something I will not even mention here. Again, do not look at it!
16. Finish rinsing turkey. Plop in big pan that hasn't been used since last November. That 10 minutes before had dust bunnies in it, until washed out.
17. Pour oil over turkey. Cover all turkey with oil, you can use 1 tablespoon and rub it around, or half a bottle and never have to touch anything, just drizzle till all covered.
18. Salt and cover with foil. Ahhh...raw dead bird out of sight.
19. Bake for 4 hours pull foil, smell delicious aroma, let turkey brown for another 45-1hr. make sure popper thing is popped, take out of oven. Let cool a bit so as not to burn fingers when hacking or carving as I like to call it.
20. I will spare you the details of carving a turkey, but just know I try only to touch what looks like belongs on your plate. Anything that looks a little iffy, I go to my happy place and just throw that part away.
21. Serve the turkey to loved ones, and give them big hugs because all the raw bird touching was worth it to see the smiles on their faces when they eat their Thanksgiving meal. Thank you God for my family.
22. I thank God for you too! Happy Thanksgiving Day.
p.s. my daugher who is now 7 years old has prepared our turkey for 3 years now. She double crossed me and spent the night with her grandma to hang out with her cousins who are in town for the holiday. She loves the turkey experience, but not enough to give up a night with cousins. Go figure.
Comments
1)Buy a horribly expensive, most yummy H-E-B pre-cooked (and then frozen) smoked turkey.
2)Thaw it 2 days before Thanksgiving.
3) Roll out of bed about 9. Put a golden brown, but cold, turkey in the oven.
4)Listen to the compliments about how tasty and moist the yummy smoked turkey is.
I highly recommend my method over yours, as well as a side dish of Judy's recipe for dressing.
Buy enough brown meat for everyone to have their fill.
Get up early to go to Starbuck's for a nice long talk with hubby.
Around 10:00 make a pumpkin pie.
Slice tomatoes and mozerella cheese.
Steam green beans and brown cashews in butter.
Get Donna's secret dressing out of freezer and bake.
Start fire outside.
Put brown meat on grill.
Cook brown meat 15 minutes.
Cook rolls.
Listen to raves about what a wonderful meal is being enjoyed.
Easy clean up.