Turkey Day Wrap Up

[trystinn]

All in all, it didn't go too badly though we did have moments of hilarity and terror.

First off was my glitch - I bought an expensive, fancy meat thermometer that apparently registers 80F degrees higher than actual temperature. Against my better judgment, I allowed Josh to pull the turkey out of the oven only to realize while carving that the inside was still cold. Ugh. Back in the oven for an hour. Thankfully, I follow an old trick my Grandmother taught me of pouring a few inches worth of chicken stock in the bottom of the roasting pan, along with potatoes and veg, so the stock steams the turkey while it cooks. Makes for a fairly moist turkey, even when there's a cooking snafu.

My famous stuffing turned out great and thankfully I made four bags of stuffing cubes-worth so there's plenty of leftovers. I brown Italian Sausage (four rolls), add several pints of chicken stock and along with sauteed white onions, celery, garlic, celery salt, oregano, etc. makes for a very tasty stuffing. Mashed potatoes were a bit too mushy but the menfolk didn't seem to care. Tryptophan won out, so the men napped for about an hour afterwards. I woke them up for pie and the annual watching of Pumpkin Chunkin.

This morning, the snow is almost all melted but for a few patches to which I am most grateful. Finding duck eggs is always a bit insane as they lay practically anywhere, then add finding off-white eggs in the snow to the formula and you have a real contest of wills. I unhooked the waterer heater, heat lamps and let the chickens out to forage. Life is back to normal (for us) around here.

Comments

[seastormwitch.livejournal.com]

For perfect turkey every time - brown first at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes or until it's the brown you like - then tent it with foil and seal it well, lower the oven temp to 325 degrees and cook until the little pop up pops. Alton says always get a pop up. ;) Browning it first seals in juices and not sticking anything in it to see if it's done doesn't let the juices run out!