Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we hosted Thanksgiving for the very first time and I cooked my first turkey!! It turned out really well, I am happy to say. Based a suggestion from some friends I decided to brine the turkey before cooking it and I think it really made a difference. We also cooked the turkey breast side down in the roasting pan, to make it extra juicy. Everyone said it was delicious!!
I wasn't sure how many people were coming, so I got a HUGE turkey to be on the safe side. I figured we could always eat the leftovers, so I got a 24 pound turkey!!! There were a few snags while I was preparing the brine and fitting the turkey in the fridge was a challenge ( I had to get Anthony to help). I also for the life of me couldn't find the giblets and thought that maybe we just got a turkey without one, but when I went to get it ready to go in the oven I found the packet of them stuffed in the neck (I had been looking in the cavity). Useful information to have for next time! :) We had so many leftovers, we gave some to Anthony's parents to take home and my brothers and were still left with two entire containers full of turkey. Tonight we are having turkey sandwiches for dinner :)
 Anthony's mom, Sharon, making vegetables.
 James with his Great Grandma Lagana.


The rest of the dinner worked out perfectly, with everyone pitching in and bringing food. We missed having my mom there, but we had fun with Anthony's parents, his grandmother, and my brothers. James had fun just watching everyone and crawling around and following the excitment from room to room.
Now it is time to put the christmas tree and decorations up and get ready for Christmas. I love the holidays!

1 comment:

Adriana said...

A tip for brining the turkey: put it in a disposable cooler (we bought for $5) and pack it with ice and the turkey in the brining bag. I did that this year and it saved me so much space in the fridge!

The turkey looked great!