Skip to main content

Turkey Tradition

One of our family’s most sacred Thanksgiving traditions is giving the turkey the right to determine dinner time. I honestly never know when that bird will be ready to eat, so I tell people to come early and prepare to stay late. Note: please do not respond with advice. Our turkey comes out just right every time. I’m not going to mess with this.

But I am going to take notes this year and post them here to review next year just in case I glean some new insight.

I used to refuse to cook turkeys on Thanksgiving. First, I don’t love turkey. I prefer ham. Second, turkey can be such a chore. But some people in my family (Mom, Daughter) must have their turkey. Thankfully, I discovered an amazing recipe about fifteen years ago that has revolutionized the whole process.* The mystery of when the turkey will be done is its only drawback. This recipe is worth navigating that challenge.

Step 1: Forget to start thawing the turkey four days before Thanksgiving. (This wasn’t part of the original recipe. I added this touch myself. A recipe isn't truly yours unless you modify it somehow.)

Step 2: Move the turkey from the freezer to the refrigerator two days before Thanksgiving.

Step 3: Take the turkey out of the refrigerator at 7am on Thanksgiving morning and give it a steamy, hot water bath in the sink. (Leave it in its plastic wrapper for this step.)

Step 4: Replace the hot water and turn the turkey every fifteen minutes until the turkey thaws enough for you to remove and discard all the innards. Today this step took an hour and a half. I took the turkey out of its wrapper at 8am, thinking it would be ready, but it wasn’t. (Last year, it was—go figure.) The turkey finished its bath unclothed. While I waited, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

Step 5: Put the turkey in a roasting pan and place a whole stick of butter inside of it. Yes—a whole stick of butter. This is essential. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of the turkey. You decide how much.

Step 6: Put the lid on the roasting pan. Bake for one hour.

Step 7: Turn the oven temperature down to 250 degrees.

Step 8: Bake for 6-8 hours until turkey is done. Enjoy the aroma enveloping your home all day. (If the turkey gets done early, you will be thankful because of this smell.)

Step 9: Check the turkey at 1pm and every hour thereafter until it's done. I will update this post later to let you know how that worked out for our family on this Thanksgiving Day.

Update: I was so distracted by other preparations this year, that I forgot to check the turkey at 1pm. In fact, I didn't even look at it until 2:30, the exact time I wanted it to be ready. And it was!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Note: If you try this recipe, you won’t have to carve this turkey. It will fall apart almost all on its own. You won’t have a Hallmark Channel turkey for your table, but the taste will more than compensate you for that loss.

 *This recipe came from a comment on Beth Moore’s blog by someone identified only as OhLookADuck. If I remember correctly, Moore had asked readers for favorite recipes. Our family continues to enjoy this one.

Photo by SJ 📸 on Unsplash

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God's New Work

Stories of how God has helped others realize their dearest dreams encourage me as I reach for a new dream. I am not going to name it because I am still striving to define it, but I’ll write more about that in a future post. For now, I will tell you that it has to do with reaching some of my writing goals. A few days ago, though, I encountered one of those success stories of God helping one of His children realize a long-held dream. I discovered the story because I had seen reviews of a new author’s first novel online a few years ago and added it to my TBR. Then, a few weeks ago, I saw reviews of her second novel which reminded me I still want to read the first. I moved that novel to the top of my list and then looked to see if our library had it. Somewhere in the process, I discovered that before she wrote either of these books, this author wrote a book on prayer. * I purchased it to read right away—and did so! I was surprised to discover that the author had self-published this 38-...
Post a Comment
Read more

Halloween Prayers for Our Neighbors

One of the things  I enjoy most about Halloween is getting to greet all of our neighbors right on our own doorstep. Throughout most of the year, our quiet neighborhood is, well, quiet! We might get to wave at a neighbor or two when taking out the trash, picking up the mail, or taking a walk, but that’s about it. On Halloween, though, the neighbors all come out and visit each other. I get to greet the children, tell them how cute or scary or beautiful or funny they are, and give them candy which brings smiles to their faces in exchange for the smile they put on my own. I get to say  Hi  to all their parents and wish them a happy evening. I get to laugh as our dog attempts to go home with every child who comes to the door. (She just wants to join in the fun!) Halloween may be known for the scary stuff, but I think it’s just a great opportunity for everyone to be extra friendly! As we greet trick-or-treaters this evening, let’s remember to whisper brief prayers for them, t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Just Keep Chewing

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”  -2 Corinthians 12:9 Not too long after my husband and I adopted three children from foster care, the difference between supportive friends and cynics became clear. Some people would ask how we were adapting, inviting us, we thought, to talk openly about the struggle. Supportive friends would offer to pray, work harder to get to know our daughters, and look for ways to help or encourage us. Others, however, would smirk and comment that maybe we’d bitten off more than we could chew. It felt like they were looking for evidence to support their opinion that we’d made a mistake. It was as if they were watching for us to fail and taking pleasure in our discomfort. Nothing short of a miraculously smooth and quick transition for all of us would have convinced these skept...
Post a Comment
Read more