I love turkey. Turkey with homemade stuffing, fresh fruit salad, candied yams, black olives, mash potatoes with homemade turkey gravy, and pumpkin pie with whip cream. When it comes to my holiday dinners I tend to spare no expense to my waist line. It's all so fattening, but my kids LOVE it.
This year my children are going over to their dad's house for the holiday. My daughter told me that she wished she could stay with me because she loves how moist my turkey is. I don't try to boast about my cooking (as I am sure there are others way better than I am), but I do pride myself on my bird. I also know what she is going to go through with my ex's idea of a Thanksgiving meal. So to kill several birds with one stone (no pun intended), I have decided to have a Thanksgiving dinner before they leave.
One of my reasons for doing so is to let my children have what they want. It's not to be mean to my ex or anything, I really like having my kids involved this time of year. Another reason is that since we are going to my man's grandpa's house, we aren't going to have the most wonderful thing about turkey day, and that is the leftovers!!! The last reason is because I miss my kids this time of year when I don't have them. I should be use to it by now, but I'm not.
Now, I don't know what my ex's family does to make their turkey come out so dry, but if it has anything to do with listening to a little white and red thing that is stuck in the bird, that could be the problem. One of the first things I do when I get that bird out of the plastic is take that thing out!! I swear that those things cause nothing but problems. I remember one year I left that thing in just to see when or if it would pop out to tell me the bird was done. I also stuck in my digital one and set the temperature for when it needed to be pulled out. When it went off, I pulled the bird out, covered it, and finished making dinner. I kept a close eye on the plastic piece of crap that didn't pop yet to see if it ever would. It finally did after about 30 minutes of it sitting there. I really think that 30 minutes of resting instead of cooking the juices away made a huge difference. I will never go back to the plastic method again!
Okay, I think I am done going off about my experiments with turkey temps. I know a few friends of mine have written down what they are thankful for, so here is a few of mine.
- Great friends and great family
- People that give the best hugs
- Hot chocolate after a snowball fight with your kids
- All things that make you smile
- Strangers that hold the door open for you with a smile
- Extended family members that make you feel like you belong
I have a list that can go on forever, but I need to get some sleep so I can be ready to start the day with some fun. That is if the snow sticks around and grows!