Thanksgiving

"Curly Sue" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

kilikini said:

I agree. Side dishes rule! The turkey is, well, just a turkey. I've

never

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

been especially fond of turkey, though. My husband's turkey is good,
however. He injects it with garlic, butter and honey and then smokes it

for

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Quoted message said:

about 4.5 hours. It comes out juicy, sweet and smokey. From now on,

that's

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the only way you'll see me eating turkey.

kili

I never understood why some people weren't crazy about turkey until
one Thanksgiving I was a guest at a friend's house. The turkey was
cooked without garlic. Then I understood...

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

Yea, but ... One year my dad decided to "help" the cooks with his take on
garlicy turkey. He put slits all over the turkey (like you would a leg of
lamb) and stuffed slivers of garlic in it. The worst and. as predicted,
when we caught him doing this, driest turkey ever served to man. Whenever
he pokes his head in the kitchen now on Holidays we mock cover whatever we
are preparing with cries of "remember the turkey"! It never ceases to amaze
me that he is certain that his idea is going to be a break through in the
culinary arts. OTOH when something I've actually prepared isn't quite right
he is the perfect person to go to for a taste and assess. He invariably
knows what it's missing. Go figure!

Kate

In article <[email hidden]>,

Goomba38 said:

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

(And our tradition never did involve carving a bird at

Quoted message said:

table. To me, BFD.)

But didn't you miss the smell of it roasting that day??
Goomba

I did but not enough to overshadow the pleasure of low stress.
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 10-20-05 with a note from Niece Jo.

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Ya wanna save time, deep fry it!

That's a false time-saving. The turkey gets done more quickly, but
needs constant monitoring. An oven-baked turkey takes longer but
requires no attention while cooking, freeing you to do other things.

Brian

Goomba38 said:

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

(And our tradition never did involve carving a bird at

Quoted message said:

table. To me, BFD.)

But didn't you miss the smell of it roasting that day??
Goomba

I roast a turkey every 2-3 weeks. I get plenty of roated turkey smell.
😉 We buy them on sale at the end of the holiday season (8-12 cents
per lb), freeze them and cook them for sliced deli meat. The dark meat
is eaten for meals and the "scraps" turned into soups and casseroles.
And dog biscuits. 🙂
-L.

In article <[email hidden]>,

-L. said:

Goomba38 said:

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

(And our tradition never did involve carving a bird at

Quoted message said:

table. To me, BFD.)

But didn't you miss the smell of it roasting that day??
Goomba

I roast a turkey every 2-3 weeks. I get plenty of roated turkey smell.
😉 We buy them on sale at the end of the holiday season (8-12 cents
per lb), freeze them and cook them for sliced deli meat. The dark meat
is eaten for meals and the "scraps" turned into soups and casseroles.
And dog biscuits. 🙂
-L.

I buy extra at the end of the season also, but I part them out... I have
thighs, legs and wings, then bone out the breast meat to use in stir
fry. I then make stock out of the backs and breast bone.

There are only two of us now so roasting an entire bird is out.
I'll be looking for the smallest one I can find for us for Thanksgiving!
I HAVE to roast a whole one then for tradition. :-)

Cheers!
Kat
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

-L. said:

😉 We buy them on sale at the end of the holiday season (8-12 cents
per lb)

I've seen turkeys pretty cheap, but that's amazing. Where do you find
15lb turkeys for a couple bucks?

nb

In article <[email hidden]>,

notbob said:

-L. said:

😉 We buy them on sale at the end of the holiday season (8-12 cents
per lb)

I've seen turkeys pretty cheap, but that's amazing. Where do you find
15lb turkeys for a couple bucks?

nb

Yeah, she is lucky! I've never seen them drop lower than maybe 29 cents
per lb. on sale!

Usual is 49 cents per lb.

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Yeah, she is lucky! I've never seen them drop lower than maybe 29 cents
per lb. on sale!
Usual is 49 cents per lb.

I've seen them down to about 40¢ lb, but that was always pre-T-day.
As soon as T-day was past, the price shot up, never to return, even
around xmas.

nb

CooberGirl said:

Anyhow, for me, the best part of Thanksgiving is not the turkey. Every
year, my in-laws go up to Pennsylvania and get a fresh turkey from this
specialty turkey place. I'm no more impressed with it than I am with the
previously-frozen supermarket turkeys my mom used to buy. I'm a side dish
girl, myself.

You sound just like me. I put about three bites of turkey on my plate
and gorge myself on dressing, green beans, potato salad, sweet
potatoes, macaroni and cheese, devilled eggs, cole slaw, rolls ...

Tara

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 02:55:03p, Tara wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

CooberGirl said:

Anyhow, for me, the best part of Thanksgiving is not the turkey. Every
year, my in-laws go up to Pennsylvania and get a fresh turkey from this
specialty turkey place. I'm no more impressed with it than I am with the
previously-frozen supermarket turkeys my mom used to buy. I'm a side dish
girl, myself.

You sound just like me. I put about three bites of turkey on my plate
and gorge myself on dressing, green beans, potato salad, sweet
potatoes, macaroni and cheese, devilled eggs, cole slaw, rolls ...

I don't especially like turkey, so all the side dishes are more appealing.
I'd rather have a roast chicken or capon.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

"Christine Dabney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Peter Aitken said:

The world is full of people who rave about bad food.

Don't I know it.

I am planning a Thanksgiving dinner for a bunch of traveling nurses
who are on assignment here in the SF bay area. Due to many of us
working on Thanksgiving, we will more than likely be having dinner the
weekend after.

Of this group, there are a few nurses that proclaim that they are good
cooks, and they offered to help with the cooking, and putting on the
meal.

One suggested to me (knowing that I love to cook) that she could go
pick up some pies from Costco, since it would save a lot of time, and
"Costco does a great Pumpkin pie and other desserts that are just
like home made". She suggested that we didn't need to kill ourselves
doing this, which is true, but I am not going to sacrifice flavor and
quality in the interest of expedience.

I suggested to her that I preferred homemade. 😉 Now I am wondering
what her idea of good homemade food is, if she thinks Costco pies are
just like homemade.

Christine

Not being a big fan of desserts, anyway (unless they're outrageously good) I
wouldn't care much if someone brought out a decent store-bought pumpkin pie.
The rest of the meal is more important to me.

On the other hand, canned gravy or packaged stuffing would make me cringe.

My hubby and I talked about this the other day -- things I would consider
"company" food and things I would serve at home. For instance, I have no
trouble eating leftovers, but I wouldn't serve them as a company dinner.
Spaghetti, to me, is family food, but I'd make lasagna for company. The list
goes on...

OTOH, I have a relative who's not exactly a good cook, and when I see
pre-made, packaged goods, I know I'm in for a better meal that if it's
home-cooked. So the day we had KFC and a store-bought pie was a "success,"
as was the day we had chicken kievs and rice-a-roni. I don't go there for
the food, I go there for the company, so whatever is served is fine; it's
just not what I would do. I enjoy cooking for people and having them rave
about the meal, whereas it's just a chore for her and the less time she has
to spend in the kitchen the better.

Donna

In article <[email hidden]>,

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 02:55:03p, Tara wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

CooberGirl said:

Anyhow, for me, the best part of Thanksgiving is not the turkey. Every
year, my in-laws go up to Pennsylvania and get a fresh turkey from this
specialty turkey place. I'm no more impressed with it than I am with the
previously-frozen supermarket turkeys my mom used to buy. I'm a side dish
girl, myself.

You sound just like me. I put about three bites of turkey on my plate
and gorge myself on dressing, green beans, potato salad, sweet
potatoes, macaroni and cheese, devilled eggs, cole slaw, rolls ...

I don't especially like turkey, so all the side dishes are more appealing.
I'd rather have a roast chicken or capon.

You must not ever have had turkey roasted right. :-)
I know one poster (don't remember who) said that 90% of folks ruin them
and IME I agree! The cooking times are WAY way way too long and the bird
gets all dried out, even ones with that "pop up" indicator.

Standard is 15 minutes per lb.

We cut it back to 8 to 10 minutes per lb. and it comes out OH so much
better! Even a meat thermometer does not work all that well! I think if
it were to be put into maybe mid-thigh, it might.

Once we learned that, turkey became wonderful again.

We also quit stuffing them and started making stuffing in a separate
roasting pan. You can still add drippings to it or smother it in gravy
to get the extra turkey flavor.

I also purchase giblets and necks separately and make the gravy the day
before so I can make a decent stock. I still add the roast drippings to
it to finish it off...

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

Wayne said:

I don't especially like turkey, so all the side dishes are more appealing.
I'd rather have a roast chicken or capon.

I dislike turkey breast, but I have a good recipe which disguises it as
veal.

Bob

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

You must not ever have had turkey roasted right. :-)
I know one poster (don't remember who) said that 90% of folks ruin them
and IME I agree! The cooking times are WAY way way too long and the bird
gets all dried out, even ones with that "pop up" indicator.

I've had poorly roasted turkey, wonderfully roasted turkey, deep-fried
turkey, government issue mess hall turkey and didn't like any of them.
Poultry isn't my thing in any way shape or form. I'm not a fan of
chicken, duck or goose either and last time I was in Scotland passed up
a pheasant dinner. I'd rather have beef, a really good ham, a nice
sockeye salmon filet, or a nice Icelandic leg or lamb instead instead
of bird.

The trimmings are another thing altogether - those I really enjoy.

SD

In article <[email hidden]>,

aem said:

kilikini said:

[snip]
I swear, it comes out so juicy. It's a no-fail bird. The only problem is
that you can't eat the skin because the skin turns out black-ish and
rubbery. But, but, but, the meat underneath? Absolutely to DIE for. This
is it for me. This is the ONLY way I will ever eat turkey again.

Sorry, the roasted, crispy, crackly, oh so flavorful skin is the best
part of the bird beyond a doubt. No way would we give that up. -aem

Us, too. I roast at 500 degrees, rub all over with salt and pepper,
squeeze the juice from a lemon all over, push some sprigs of rosemary
under the skin, stuff the turkey with an onion cut in half, some
rosemary, a bunch of garlic cloves, the shell of that lemon. Roast for
about 2:15 for the size turkey we usually get. Crisp skin, moist meat,
amazing taste. We like it. You tent foil over it while you make the
gravy, to which I add bourbon, and it is a lovely meal.

Regards,
Ranee

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"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

I have a very fast dishwasher that saves tons of electricity and water.
;-) It's called a pair of hands and a basin of hot soapy water. <lol>

I clean up as I go when I cook, so I never end up with a sink full of
pots, pans and utensils.

Sorry, but I just _detest_ automatic dishwashers.

You live alone, though, right? We have a family of six. Some close
friends of ours have a family of eight, and we regularly have them over
(and them us). Just out two families is 14 people's worth of dishes.
We also regularly host our entire church for feasts. Now, we have
relatively small church, so we're talking 50 people, including kids, but
even if you use paper plates, that's a lot of silverware and pots and
pans and baking dishes, measuring cups, spoons, serving pieces, etc.

Regards,
Ranee (who loves her dishwasher)

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

In article <[email hidden]>,

SD said:

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

You must not ever have had turkey roasted right. :-)
I know one poster (don't remember who) said that 90% of folks ruin them
and IME I agree! The cooking times are WAY way way too long and the bird
gets all dried out, even ones with that "pop up" indicator.

I've had poorly roasted turkey, wonderfully roasted turkey, deep-fried
turkey, government issue mess hall turkey and didn't like any of them.
Poultry isn't my thing in any way shape or form. I'm not a fan of
chicken, duck or goose either and last time I was in Scotland passed up
a pheasant dinner. I'd rather have beef, a really good ham, a nice
sockeye salmon filet, or a nice Icelandic leg or lamb instead instead
of bird.

The trimmings are another thing altogether - those I really enjoy.

SD

I see. :-)

Might want to do a standing rib roast then... ;-d

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-[censored]." -Jack Nicholson

In article <[email hidden]>,

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

I also purchase giblets and necks separately and make the gravy the day
before so I can make a decent stock. I still add the roast drippings to
it to finish it off...

I do this. I also sometimes find turkey legs on sale for nearly
nothing, and roast those and make stock out of them with the giblets
from the bird, then I add the pan drippings to that. Wonderful.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

Quoted message said:

The cooking times are WAY way way too long and the bird

Quoted message said:

gets all dried out, even ones with that "pop up" indicator.

Standard is 15 minutes per lb.

We cut it back to 8 to 10 minutes per lb. and it comes out OH so much
better! Even a meat thermometer does not work all that well! I think if
it were to be put into maybe mid-thigh, it might.

Once we learned that, turkey became wonderful again.

We also quit stuffing them and started making stuffing in a separate
roasting pan. You can still add drippings to it or smother it in gravy
to get the extra turkey flavor.

I also purchase giblets and necks separately and make the gravy the day
before so I can make a decent stock. I still add the roast drippings to
it to finish it off...

Cheers!
--

I bought a turkey once that had that pop-up timer thingie and the darn
thing never did do it's job. I just usually rely on time and
temperature and get excellent results. Not dry as a bone and
tasteless.

It's probably a family tradition or a regional thing, but we've always
made dressing (aka stuffing also sometimes called 'filling'😉 in a
separate pan. Seems to turn out a bit more moist, not soggy as some of
you may suppose, than the stuff up the bird's butt. And the benefits
to this is you can make a really large pan of it, too. :-)

Wayne Boatwright said:

I don't especially like turkey, so all the side dishes are more appealing.
I'd rather have a roast chicken or capon.

Yes, I like roast turkey, but I don't love it. I crave the cornbread
dressing and sweet potatoes, so I like to have just a few bites of the
turkey to feel like I have had my Thanksgiving turkey (which I must
have, even though it's not my favorite) and save room for all the
delicious trimmings.

The day after Thanksgiving, nothing beats pumpkin pie for breakfast
and a turkey sandwich for lunch. I can eat turkey sandwiches for
days.

Tara