Thanksgiving Menu

Good Morning Everyone!

Happy Wednesday and Day Before Thanksgiving!  Is everyone ready to do some major eating tomorrow???  We sure are!!!

Our menu for tomorrow:

Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Squash
Corn
Green Beans
Dinner Rolls
Cranberries (Whole Berries and Jellied)
Homemade Wild Rice Dressing
Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
Chocolate Cake

As I said in yesterday's post, I am going to share how I cook my turkey:

Thaw your turkey in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. (Yes, that high, just for the beginning.)

Remove the neck and giblets.

Slice a stick of butter into small portions, like "pats" of butter.

Gently separate the skin from the breast but don't remove it. You just want to be able to get your hand between the skin the breast meat. Your goal is to place pats of butter on the turkey breast between the breast skin and the meat. You might want to use a rubber glove.  I also rub a small amount of seasoning under the skin.  You can use the typical poultry seasoning found in most stores, or you can try your own blend of rosemary, thyme and black pepper.

Use same seasoning blend to rub generously on the outside of the turkey. 

Place turkey into roasting bag and roasting pan.  (Make sure you add the recommended flour to bag as seen on the directions of the box.)

In a medium-sized bowl, add 1 cup of water, a sliced apple (any kind) and a sliced onion (any kind).  Add generous portion of seasoning to the mix and microwave for about 4-5 minutes.  The time is not that important, as we just want the onion and apple to start their own cooking process for "aromatics" before we add them to the turkey.

Place apple/onion mix into the cavity of the turkey.

Close roasting bag as directions state.

Place turkey (in bag and roasting pan, obviously) in the oven (preheated to 475) for 20 minutes.  This helps to seal the turkey and keeps it from drying out.

After 20 minutes, turn heat down to 325 degrees.  Roast according to the following guidelines:

6 to 8 pounds:      2 - 2 1/2 hours*
8 to 12 pounds:    2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours*
12 to 16 pounds:  3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours*
16 to 20 pounds:  4 1/2 - 5 hours*
20 to 24 pounds:  5 - 6 hours*

*NOTE:  If you are NOT using a roasting bag, please add 1 hour roasting time to the above guidelines.

What are you most looking forward to eating tomorrow?

From our family to yours, have a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Jaime "Peanut's Mom"

P.S. Also, Happy 7 Months (tomorrow) to my Lil' Peanut...MOMMY LOVES YOU SWEETHEART!!!