It's that time of year - Thanksgiving. It's during this time that I look forward to the time off of work that I get - first Thanksgiving, then Christmas soon after.
What I don't look forward to is traveling to families and being out of the comforts of my own home.
For the past 32 years, I have managed to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday without ever having to cook a turkey. There was a couple of years ago that my husband and I decided to stay in town for Thanksgiving so I invited a few other stragglers to come over for Thanksgiving dinner and I ordered a roasted turkey from Wegmans - my effort was just to reheat for 1.5 hours.
Every year, the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving, we usually have a get together amongst our close friends, to celebrate the upcoming holiday. It is a potluck where everyone attending brings a festive dish and the hosts supply the bird. This is the first year that we're hosting the event. Our previous hosts have moved out to California so my husband and I stepped up to the plate to host the event this year. It's always a good time and a good excuse to bring everyone together before the hectic holiday season.
I thought I could get away with pre-ordering the turkey from Wegmans again and just reheat (and perhaps pass it off as my own)....but after meeting with the catering department and seeing that they only offered ONE size of bird that could not feed the 20+ guests we're expecting (and ordering two was not an option), it has come down to me cooking the turkey, myself, from scratch.
I started panicking. I brought my Betty Crocker cookbook to work yesterday but ultimately didn't have time to sift through for recipes. I did get about 10 mins to look online for recipes and I found a whole Turkey prep page with LOADS of recipes...I figured I would try a garlic and herb one - who doesn't like garlic and herb. I think my panic stems from long-ago Thanksgivings where my Mom would prepare the turkey and it seemed like it took a whole day to get it done. I also did not have a great fondness for turkey due to the dry-ness that resulted from my Mom's bird - then again, I don't really recall her basting the bird either. The recipes that I encountered only seem to take 3-4 hours before the turkey is done - no sweat! So now I'm actually not as frightened about making a turkey as I was before.
It will still be nerve wracking - having to cook a whole turkey myself for 20+ guests - but if I can do this, then that's just one more cooking accomplishment to put under my belt - turkey...check.
The gravy will come separately - that has been pre-ordered, thank goodness....I'm trying to take baby steps here.
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Awww - you have to make homemade gravy, Jen. That's what I'm doing. It's the best.
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