Thanksgiving 2006

[Solid Lifters]

Sorry, that just popped into mind.

OK, tis T-day morning. I'm prepping the bird food first (9 bowls of food for 13 parrots. Then begins the bacon frying for greasing the bird, and for breakfast. Eggs and toast for breakfast. Then the turkey cooking starts.

I often lay raw bacon strips on my turkey for making a crisp and tasty turkey skin. Once the bacon is fully cooked, I take off and eat the cooked bacon and add more raw bacon to the turkey.

Then again, cooking all that bacon at once can be fun, too.

For fast turkey cooking, cut the bird in pieces like a chicken. Cook the breasts 30 minutes before adding the rest of the turkey for 60 more minutes. Total cooking time for a medium size turkey (12 pounds) is just 90 minutes!

After cooking, let the turkey rest for 20-30 minutes, then cut into serving size portions and soak them in warm-hot turkey broth for 5-10 minutes to make it super juicy.

 

[TopHat]

Oh goody, its raining like heck here. I go out to Riverhead today where EVERYONE on my dads side of the family goes to. I don't remember anyone!

Oh well, at least theres turkey.

 

[Zrow]

Der Alta - fan of Thanksgiving?


We're not cooking the bird this year, just heading to my grandmother's to eat. There is a great sweet potato recipe that (I think) we'll be having - it's got a cream/brown suger/pecan topping on it.

 

[Der Alta]

Yep, its a day off where I get every reason to go all out on the cooking.

And so it begins.
OK, bacon has been cooked. Corn bread has been cooked. Time to prep the bird.

Stuffing has been prepped, Bird is stuffed and spiced, the bacon grease has been injected as well as coated the bird. Yes, that is a monster syringe for injecting juices into the meat. No, the beer is last nights empty. However, its noon somewhere.

 

[Omnis]

http://thanxgiving.ytmnd.com/



Lol, actually, we had (all home-made of course):

2 Turkeys
1 Ham
Sweet Potato Suffle w/ coconut, pecans, and mashmallows
Creamed corn
green beans w/ sauteed tomato
sausage stuffing
cranberry nut stuffing
mac 'n' cheese
yellow rice
parker rolls and biscuits

and for dessert?

key lime pie
coconut cream pie (home made)
pumpkin cheese cake
tres leches
and some more ham ( I had a hankering...)

 

[Mark T]

I treat Christmas like thanks giving. I'm not religious so Christmas to me is just a time to chill out with family that I haven't seen much of that year. Nothing better than a feast with family.

 

[Omnis]

I treat Christmas like thanks giving. I'm not religious so Christmas to me is just a time to chill out with family that I haven't seen much of that year. Nothing better than a feast with family.

Well, in my opinion, you don't have to be religious to acknowledge the birth/life of Jesus. Besides that, being with family on christmas is the whole point. 👍

 

[Der Alta]

I had these taken yesterday, but wasn't able to update this thread.

Turkey in the oven

The spread! (peas are in the microwave, finishing)

Left overs galore. All the monsters got a bit of mashed Potato, sweet potato and turkey. It borders on morbid to watch the glee in the Macaw eyes, as they eat the turkey.

 

[Matt R]

Looks like you had some thanksgiving there Der Alta. I've got a picture of myself with some girly relatives of mine. It's obvious in the picture I've had enough of them.

 

[Zrow]

Looks good! Here's my question: do you stuff your turkey with stuffing? Is it unsafe to do so?

 

[Der Alta]

Looks good! Here's my question: do you stuff your turkey with stuffing? Is it unsafe to do so?

This year, I did Stove Top stuffing prepped in the microwave. I used that to stuff the turkey. Simply fill the turkey's chest/abdomen cavity with it and through the whole bird in the oven. No problem with juices or other such events. Comes out great.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Looks good! Here's my question: do you stuff your turkey with stuffing? Is it unsafe to do so?

Yeah, it can be. It's generally a good idea not to, but it can be safely done. I never, ever do it, though. I do make Stove Top, because I grew up on it and I still think it's good stuff. Kids like it, too and making home made stuffing is such a chore.

 

[xAkirax2004]

I forgot to take pictures of my dinner, but it was southern style in some aspects.

19 pound turkey
Homemade stuffing (In and out of the bird)
Black eyed peas
Collard Greens
2 mountains of mashed potatoes and rolls
Mixed vegetables
Various pies (Pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate cream)

I, of course helped myself to everything.

 

[TB]

A couple days late, but so be it.

My T-Day went more or less about as I figured it would. There were a few surprises, but overall it was as hellacious as I anticipated. Thirty minutes before they arrived, and well past the point of no return, my wife starts laughing. I asked her what was so funny. She said "I just remembered my mom says she's allergic to peanuts." I say she says she's allergic because she also says she's allergic to MSG, yet when we gave her something with MSG in it without telling her, somehow she was fine. Further evidence of her attention seeking ways include, immediately after our son was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, she told us that one of her kids tested positive for CF but he is fine now. WRONG. You, at this point, don't just stop having CF. It's with you for life. I keep telling my wife to tell her I have something her mom couldn't possibly have, like priapism, and see if she somehow ends up with that, just like she, after having been in our house for over an hour hasn't sneezed, coughed or otherwise, suddenly has our cold.

Back on topic. After questioning what kind of oil I was cooking the turkey in, her sister asked if I could use a different kind of oil, like olive oil. I told her "Only if I wanted to make you a $200 turkey, and I don't." It was the same for everything else on the table. Normally you ask what is in something after you try it because you think it is good. They were asking before to see if the wanted to try it.

When I finished eating, I went downstairs, my TV was on and her dad was sleeping with the remote in his hand. Should I get you a blanket, too? I turned it off and went outside to clean up the oil and pots.

On the plus side, I was very thankful when they left, and dessert was killer. Chocolate Cream pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake.

 

[Der Alta]

Pumpkin Cheesecake.

After reading the above, I remember why I never visit family during the holidays. Too much chaos.

Oh, and the highlight of my familys big get together... My sister had a fight with her husband and they left in different vehicles. She didn't come home until late Saturday night. Gotta love family drama episodes.

 

[FoolKiller]

I had a long weekend with ups and downs, but here goes:

Wednesday night is when my weekend started. I went to a bar after work with a friend and we drank beer and watched the UK-UCLA game. UK lost.

Then on Thursday we went to the inlaws for dinner. We had a turkey breast, pumpkin cheesecake, and watched football. We all got along. We actually like each other.

Mmmm, turkey breast.

Corn pudding in the making.

The spread.

Pumpkin cheesecake.

My father-in-law watching footbal. He's bored because it was Miami vs Detroit.

After we finished dinner and visiting my wife and I headed out on a road trip to Edinburgh, IN where we went to an outlet mall that opened at midnight for Black Friday. It was insanely busy and the interstate was backed up for miles. We got off one exit sooner to go to a hotel and avoided the interstate backup. The desk clerk then gave us directions to get to teh mall the back way and avoid the traffic. All of this was so I could buy my wife the stand mixer she wanted for Christmas. It worked out as I saved nearly $90.

Midnight mall traffic.

Friday morning we headed home and I got the Christmas stuff out of the attic while my wife was at a basket making class. I also took a nap. Then when my wife got home she asked me what was wrong with her cat, Slinky. I mentioned that she had been laying around all day but I didn't pay a sleeping cat much notice. When we tried to move her she just laid there and barely moved. She was breathing hard and appeared to be dehydrated. She was obviously sick and having not been home for two days had no clue when it started, but we couldn't remember seeing her eat since Tuesday. So, we called the vet and scheduled to take her in first thing in the morning. We attempted to get her to eat and drink water but she wouldn't do it and even ignored cat treats. We went to bed worried about our cat.

The next morning we went to the vet and they hospitalized her with her on an IV and plans for diagnostic testing that day. There was nothing else we could do until the results all came in. The vet said he couldn't promise anything.

We went home and started getting ready for Thanksgiving 2.0 with my family. We went to my brother's house in Lexington where my mom with my stepdad and my father with his girlfriend were expected to come together. We are preparing them for doing holidays together after we have kids because we are not running all over the state just because they got a divorce and can't get along.

Fortunately they got along, as much as not talking to one another is getting along. Oddly, my stepdad and my dad get along and my mom and Dad's girlfriend get along, but my mom and dad barely say two words to each other.

Anyway, we all brought a couple of dishes and my stepdad fried the turkey out front. My mom injected it with cajun sauces and then sprinkled cajun seasoning on the outside. Unlike my low cholesterol, low sodium in laws, my family is country bred and we understand the quality given to food with real butter (sometimes lard) and herbs and seasonings.

Also, as on Thursday, there was much football watching, college this time. My Wildcats lost again and then salt was added to the wound as Louisville pounded Pittsburgh in the second half. Then the USC vs Notre Dame game wass fun to watch until USC ran off with it in the second half. Oh, and that was definitely a fumble. He tucked the ball, and I call that posession.

The waiting line for the oven and my brother making Cheddar Bay biscuits.

The turkey has been seasoned.

My stepdad prepping the frier.

Heating the peanut oil.

Turkey in the frying basket.

Dropping it into the oil.

Now we're frying, baby!

An hour later and we are carving.

Ceddar Bay biscuits.

And all the fixin's

My brother got behind on his sage potatoes.

It isn't a meal without wine.

My dad watching football on my brother's 60" HDTV.

Could Pitt pull it off? No!

Sunday morning we got up and the vet called at 9:30. Slinky had congestive heart failure, was still refusing to eat, but was up and moving after she got rehydrated. The congestive heart failure was brought on because she had a small heart and the lining had become thick. Our choices were to either try giving her a feeding tube and putting her on medicines for the rest of her life or putting her to sleep. We opted for putting her to sleep as we couldn't afford the cost and she wouldn't be able to live a full life anymore. She lived 10 years and had a full life. She will be missed.

RIP Slinky.

Later that day my wife went to her grandmother's house with her mom to make cakes using her new mixer (she gets it now and I get my Wii as soon as she gets it). While she was there I started putting up Christmas decorations while checking in on the NFL scores. Bengals defense gave me 31 fantasy points!

My wife decided she wanted the new rotating carousel inflatable.

And Christmas season has officially begun.

 

[Keef]

No way, you don't have those massive Christmas inflatables in your yard, do you? Baahhh!

 

[FoolKiller]

No way, you don't have those massive Christmas inflatables in your yard, do you? Baahhh!

Just one month out of the year.

This is light compared to what I usually do. I got lazy this year though. My in-laws like to harass me for trying to have a National Lampoons house.

With Christmas I let myself go and decide that tackiness is allowed. If you can't have fun with the one holiday it's allowed then when can you? I know they are horrid, but that is how I judge it. I step back and ask if it looks tacky and obnoxious. If the answer is no then I go buy more lights.

 

[TB]

Sorry to hear about Slinky, FK. Other than that, it sounds like you had a good time.

 

[TopHat]

Poor Slinky, I hope she was nice.

 

[FoolKiller]

Sorry to hear about Slinky, FK. Other than that, it sounds like you had a good time.

Yeah, it was a good weekend. With lots of food and great football how can you go wrong?

As for Slinky; she was my wife's cat before we ever met and she favored my wife, so my attachment wasn't too strong, but my wife is taking it hard. The hardest hit for me was on my wallet. Now, when Milo (my cat) dies I will be distraught.

Poor Slinky, I hope she was nice.

Let's just say she had personality. Maine Coons are a moody breed. You have to pick your moments.

 

[TopHat]

I have a maine coon cat... shes more like a friggin dog.