Thanksgiving

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 04:03:51p, OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Wayne Boatwright said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:21:31 GMT, "CooberGirl"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>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. :-)

No, I don't think that's it at all. I simply don't like the flavor,
regardless of how it's been cooked. It's not a question of texture or
moisture or any other characteristic that can be modified by method. I
grew up in a family that didn't serve turkey. We roasted chickens; hens
and capons. I love both. I also love duckling and goose. I simply don't
like turkey.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/eikz78.jpg

Meet Mr. Bailey

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 04:12:03p, Bob Terwilliger wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

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

It would have to go through a complete transmogrification before I would
attempt to get it down. :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/eikz78.jpg

Meet Mr. Bailey

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ranee Mueller said:

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.

There are two of us, and dad tends to make enough dishes for several
people actually. <lol> Seems to be a "guy" thing. ;-)
It's ok tho'. I'd rather wash up after him than not have him around!

Quoted message said:

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)

Different strokes! :-)
it's just that, since you have to rinse stuff off before you can put it
in the dishwasher, I just never really saw the point???
--
Om.

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ranee Mueller said:

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

Hmmmmm... never thought of that.
Since I can get wings, I'd probably use those instead of drumsticks.

Good idea, thanks! :-)
--
Om.

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

itsjoannotjoann said:

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. :-)

Yep. :-)
And IMHO it makes the roasting time for the turkey a lot more
predictable. It's just TOO easy to overcook a bird to get all that
stuffing roasted. Perfect stuffing, dried out bird meat. :-(

I know it's traditional to stuff a bird, but is it _really_
necessary?????

Not for me! Not anymore.
--
Om.

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

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 05:13:24p, Tara wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

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.

LOL! I agree about most of this. While I really don't like turkey at all,
I can "enjoy" one very freshly roasted turkey sandwich made with breast
meat. Must be made on the evening of Thanksgiving day, or no later than
lunch the next day. Must be made on good white bread with mayo and
lettuce. After that, if it's in our house, the cats get it. Now the
cornbread dressing and sweet potatoes and fresh cranberry sauce I could eat
for days and usually do!

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/eikz78.jpg

Meet Mr. Bailey

OmManiPadmeOmelet said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ranee Mueller said:

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.

There are two of us, and dad tends to make enough dishes for several
people actually. <lol> Seems to be a "guy" thing. ;-)
It's ok tho'. I'd rather wash up after him than not have him around!

Quoted message said:

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)

Different strokes! :-)
it's just that, since you have to rinse stuff off before you can put it
in the dishwasher, I just never really saw the point???

No you don't. If you have to, there's something wrong with the
dishwasher.

I have a small kitchen so there isn't enough room to cook and wash
dishes at the same time. But if I had a huge kitchen, I'd have 3
dishwashers! My kitchen didn't have a dishwasher when I moved in; I
bought one within a month!

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

Ranee said:

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.

Enough bourbon and you don't CARE how the turkey turned out. :-)

Bob

In article <[email hidden]>,

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 05:13:24p, Tara wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

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.

LOL! I agree about most of this. While I really don't like turkey at all,
I can "enjoy" one very freshly roasted turkey sandwich made with breast
meat. Must be made on the evening of Thanksgiving day, or no later than
lunch the next day. Must be made on good white bread with mayo and
lettuce. After that, if it's in our house, the cats get it. Now the
cornbread dressing and sweet potatoes and fresh cranberry sauce I could eat
for days and usually do!

Honestly, try re-heated turkey sometime on hot toast with hot
butter....... ;-d
--
Om.

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

In article <[email hidden]>,

(Curly Sue) said:

Quoted message said:

Different strokes! :-)
it's just that, since you have to rinse stuff off before you can put it
in the dishwasher, I just never really saw the point???

No you don't. If you have to, there's something wrong with the
dishwasher.

Ah, ok, that's just what I was taught to do early on.
It's been many years since I've used a dishwasher!

Quoted message said:

I have a small kitchen so there isn't enough room to cook and wash
dishes at the same time. But if I had a huge kitchen, I'd have 3
dishwashers! My kitchen didn't have a dishwasher when I moved in; I
bought one within a month!

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

Hee! I DO clean up as I go! I rarely have more than a couple of pots to
clean by the time I am done cooking, and my kitchen is quite small. My
house is 3 bedroom, 1 bath, and only 1,100 square feet.

Cheers!
--
Om.

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

"Curly Sue" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ranee Mueller <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Ranee (who loves her dishwasher)

Different strokes! :-)
it's just that, since you have to rinse stuff off before you can put it
in the dishwasher, I just never really saw the point???

No you don't. If you have to, there's something wrong with the
dishwasher.

Exactly, I never rinse, ever. I do take off the excess food and bones,
a quick scrape into the garbage that I would do no matter how I
was washing the dishes.

I've had to physically stop my mother from rinsing the dishes, she
is so sure you have to do that. No, that's what the dishwasher
is for. Heck, first thing it does is rinse the dishes!

Quoted message said:

I have a small kitchen so there isn't enough room to cook and wash
dishes at the same time. But if I had a huge kitchen, I'd have 3
dishwashers! My kitchen didn't have a dishwasher when I moved in; I
bought one within a month!

I'm with you, and I don't even especially mind doing dishes. It's a
waste of time water and me to wash a few dishes every night, just
stick them in the machine and turn it on when it's full or I'm out of
forks or something.

My dishwasher broke a few weeks ago, you betcha I had a new
(and scary) dishwasher in its place pronto.

nancy

Wayne said:

I can "enjoy" one very freshly roasted turkey sandwich made with breast
meat. Must be made on the evening of Thanksgiving day, or no later than
lunch the next day. Must be made on good white bread with mayo and
lettuce. After that, if it's in our house, the cats get it. Now the
cornbread dressing and sweet potatoes and fresh cranberry sauce I could
eat for days and usually do!

Speaking of dressing, I must give credit to Gloria (Puester) for her
dressing recipe. It's the best I've ever made. She hasn't posted it this
year, so allow me to post it on her behalf:

1 package Pepperidge Farm seasoned bread crumbs
1 package Jimmy Dean hot sausage
1/4 cup butter
1/2 to 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 large onion, diced
2-3 celery stalks, chopped
1 or 2 sweet-[censored] apples, peeled and diced
1 cup pecans
chicken broth
Bell's seasoning or other poultry seasoning
GLORIA'S NOTE: (My sister in law adds oysters to this but my family prefers
it without. You could also add dried fruit--apricots, prunes, golden
raisins, etc. which have been soaked to plump up.)

Sauté sausage, drain and set aside.
Melt butter (or use sausage fat if you prefer) in a skillet, sauté
mushrooms, onion and celery till tender. Add apples, crumbs and pecans with
enough broth to moisten. Add poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste.
Pack lightly into a greased casserole. Refrigerate until ready to bake.

BOB'S NOTES:
* I generally use a mixture of half white bread cubes and half cornbread
cubes.
* I add some kind of plumped dried fruit: I've tried dried cranberries
plumped in orange juice and I've tried Zante currants plumped in plum wine.
Both were good. Since I'm making goose with blackberry sauce this year, I
might include dried cherries in the dressing.
* I usually cut back on the mushrooms or omit them altogether. Depends on
what the dressing is accompanying: Chickens, Cornish hens, or capons can get
the mushrooms; turkeys do not. Waterfowl may or may not, depending on what
else is in the meal.

Tangent: Thinking about stuffed pork chops, I wonder how similar a stuffing
you could use to stuff a ribeye steak. Or even if stuffing a steak is a
good idea.

Bob

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

Quoted message said:

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

Wow! I can't even get one off season for 99 cents a pound. Lowest is
around $1.29 Canadian.

MoM

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

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Wayne Boatwright said:

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

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 24 Oct 2005 19:21:31 GMT, "CooberGirl"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>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

There is nothing worse than a badly cooked turkey. Dry and tasteless.

I use a method some would disagree with, but I always end up with a juicy
tastey bird. This is my method.

Lazy Oven Turkey
Categories: Poultry

Serves: 8 Servings

Ingredients:
a.. 12 lb Turkey, 8-14 pounds
b.. 1 md Onion
c.. 1 ts Dry thyme
d.. 1 ts Dry rosemary
e.. 1 ts Dry sage
f.. Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Remove giblets and neck from turkey; set aside. Rinse and drain turkey.
Pat dry. Use a covered roasting pan that just fits the bird. Cut onion in
half and place inside turkey. Blend herbs and make a paste with a little
fat. Spread on outside of turkey and press into skin. Tie legs together.
Pour 1/2 inch water into pan and cover with lid. Place pan in a 350 degree
oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or til meat thermometer registers 185. Uncover
for last 10 minutes to brown if desired. Remove from oven and let sit for
15 minutes before carving. Drain liquid into a pot and return turkey to a
warm oven til ready to carve(after standing 15 minutes).
Posted to Recipe Archive - 27 October 96

Date: Sun, 27 Oct 96 12:24:27 EST

submitted by: [email hidden]

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

Quoted message said:

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. :-)

Not only that, but you cut down on the chances of salmonella.

MoM

"Ranee Mueller" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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)

And for some it is hard. I have severe back and knee problems. 5 minutes
to fill and empty the dishes in the washer is worth the price of the
dishwasher to me. I just can't stand at a sink for any length of time.

MoM

Bob Terwilliger said:

Speaking of dressing, I must give credit to Gloria (Puester) for her
dressing recipe. It's the best I've ever made. She hasn't posted it this
year, so allow me to post it on her behalf:

Thanks, Bob.

I haven't thought about Thanksgiving much this year because my kids and
their family/significant other will both be away for the holiday, but
here for Christmas. We'll probably have dinner with neighbors and I'll
cook a small turkey for the leftovers.

When I was a kid my aunt used to make a similar stuffing the day before
for pur dual family celebration. She also was the pie baker. We kids
couldn't wait for the stuffing to be finished so we could have "stuffing
sandwiches". My mom always cooked the turkey and most of the vegetables.

gloria p

MoM said:

And for some it is hard. I have severe back and knee problems. 5 minutes
to fill and empty the dishes in the washer is worth the price of the
dishwasher to me. I just can't stand at a sink for any length of time.

We have a dishwasher but rarely use it. There are only two of us now. If I
use the dishwasher I have to rinse the plates because it will be 2-3 days
before there enough dishes to run a cycle. When we finally get enough dishes
in it to start it up I am left with a whole lot of dishes to put away. We have
enough place settings to fo that long without washing dished, but we do need
the pots and pans and utensils washed. We have to fill up the sink with sudsy
water to do them. I find it so much easier to just fo all the dishes by hand.
It only takes a few minutes.

Andy said:

I remember a pumpkin pie cooking contest on food-tv. I forget the town
but most competitors said canned pumpkin pie filling makes the best "blue
ribbon" pies.

I once made a pumpkin pie with pumkin that I baked and pureed, apparently not
thoroughly enough. My wife thought it was stringy. For her, it was too much
like rhubarb, which she hates. I thought that it was delicious, but now I use
canned pumpkin.

Quoted message said:

I enjoy bakery bought pumpkin pies.

The filling is probably about the same, but the difference is in the pastry.
If you have a bakery that can turn out good pie pastry I hope that you do
your best to patronize it and keep it in business. They are a dying breed.

On Tue 25 Oct 2005 05:58:43p, OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Honestly, try re-heated turkey sometime on hot toast with hot
butter....... ;-d

Honesly, no. I'd sooner eat dirt. :-) I simply don't like the taste of
turkey meat, no matter then seasonings, the cooking method, etc. I'm
pesonally much better off without it. It's bad enough when I attempt to eat
a bit of it just warm, at room temperature, or cold, but the thought of
eating it reheated makes me gag. I'm really sorry, but I just can't help it.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________

http://tinypic.com/eikz78.jpg

Meet Mr. Bailey