Full of Turkey!

[asterroc]

Thanksgiving was a wonderful success chez zandperl! Photos are now online.


I took the mere eight pound turkey (for myself and my parents) out of the freezer Sunday evening. Last night (Wednesday) I cooked 1.5 cups dry rice with chicken broth (next time I'll add spices/herbs too). Today I fried up the turkey gizzards (I may leave them out next time), sliced them and added them to the rice. Rice went into the turkey as stuffing and the openings sewed closed with normal needle and thread. (Man it's hard to grip the needle when it's coated in turkey fat!)

Oven preheating on 325ºF, I coated the bird with olive oil and then rubbed in a teaspoon or so of sea salt into the skin. It didn't have a popup timer so I shoved a meat thermometer in under a leg and through the cavity where the stuffing was stuffed. I then covered the breast area with tin foil, every 30 minutes I basted it, and cooked it for four hours or until the thermometer hit 160ºF. I then removed the tin foil and cooked another 30 minutes, but I think next time I'll remove the tin foil earlier.



There was a lot of wait time, since my parents showed up from their hotel just after I sewed up the bottom. Quoted from a conversation with aurochaurochsson,

we were driving each other nuts while cooking/waiting
my dad decided he wanted to see what video games I play
I let him start FF8, but he didn't have the attention span to read anything, and the most fun he got was running in a circle in place with Selphie following him.
he said it looked like they were dancing or screwing. (his words)
it's really funny the first time, for the first five minutes.

My parents arranged for other sides: yams/sweet potatoes (reheated in the oven for the last 15 minutes, but should've been longer), potato salad, cole slaw, and macaroni salad. We also made two packages of powdered au jus and onion gravy, and I bought a loaf of pumpkin bread at a bake sale for $5 but it was for a student club. My dad cut the turkey with sharp knives that he gave me as a house warming gift just over a year ago now. It took us a while to cut everything, so some of it got cold, but it was quite tasty. The turkey came out very juicy, all the sides were great, and even Peeper enjoyed the food. It was awesome, and totally made up for the wait.

Tomorrow we're going to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and go out to dinner. My food's better!