Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The Bird is the Word



Here we are again approaching Christmas! I hate to sound like a cliche, but this year had really flown by. I'm struggling to recall February, March, April, May...Seriously, was I alive those months or in a coma??

I know I'm very late on my Thanksgiving update and it feels almost irrelevant posting about it at this point. But seeing as how poor Thanksgiving gets so neglected and lost in the hustle-and-bustle-shuffle of this time a year, I have to give it its proper due and recognition...

After worrying myself sick--for no other reason than that I seem to thrive on the masochism of self-appointed pressure--I am delighted to report that my first Thanksgiving went off without a hitch! The multiple casseroles, the bread, the turkey, and yes, the gravy were all a smashing success. I now attribute it to the fact that I was so beyond organized that there was no way that I couldn't have pulled it off...I think anyways.

As you know, my biggest concern was the turkey and gravy. That Wednesday evening I laid all of my directions out before me to go over every minute of my schedule for the umpteenth time. My friend Becky convinced me earlier that week to cook my turkey low and slow rather than a shorter time on a higher temperature to ensure tender meat that would fall off the bone--and I'm glad I listened to her because the results were indeed mouth-watering. Becky came over Wednesday evening and guided me as I melted my butter and smeared it all over and underneath the skin of Fatty McFatterson (the name I anointed my 19 lb. turkey). The only thing left at that point was to cover him and shove his fat tukus in the refrigerator overnight.

The sucky part? In order to achieve those great low and slow results and be able to eat by 2:00 in the afternoon, as I wanted to, I was required to get up early in the morning to put Fatty in the oven. Like 4:30am early--insert the Oh Hell No mumbles here. Down the street, Becky was planning to do the same thing, so she made sure to send my phone an emergency text message to wake me up on time in case I overslept. Needless to say, I slept so awful that night--I believe for that subconscious fear of oversleeping like a kid has on the first day of school. I woke up every single hour peering at the alarm clock on the nightstand, convinced it was time to get up and attend to Fatty. Finally, around 4:15am I threw in the towel and just got out of bed (the alarm was set for 4:30).

This whole process was pretty annoying. I hadn't even thought about the fact that my oven takes about twenty minutes to preheat that high. So I preheated to 450 degrees and sat myself down on the kitchen floor. When it was hot and ready, in went Fatty...poor guy. But I still couldn't go back to sleep because he needed to roast on 450 for twenty minutes before turning the oven down to 250 degrees. So in total, I spent a good forty-five minutes sitting on the kitchen floor waiting to go back to sleep. Nella was completely confused because she assumed since I was up, that it MUST be breakfast time. Even so, she made for good company on the floor. She's a good egg, that puppy...

Back in my comfy king-size, sleep eluded me. Something about having the oven on while sleeping didn't sit well with me, even knowing it was on at a low temperature. This was the very reason I nixed my mother-in-law's suggestion of cooking the turkey all night long--I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. I barely got any rest as it is, and that was getting up at 4:30! However, somewhere around 6:00am I think I managed to drift off before waking up for good around 7:30am.

Fatty was cooking away, and I realized that I couldn't do a whole lot else till later in the afternoon. I had assembled my broccoli casserole and green bean casserole the night before. I still had stuffing, corn casserole and the Snowy Mashed Potatoes to make, but those couldn't be done early in the day--the stuffing takes 5 minutes at the last moment, the corn casserole would have absorbed too much into the cornbread mixture, leaving it soggy and I don't like to peel my potatoes too early and sit in water all day because, in my opinion, they become too mushy. The rest was being brought by my sister Beth, so the day really turned into a waiting game where ironically I didn't have a whole lot to do.




This is what I meant about being beyond organized. I knew to a tee what had to be done, and when, and when it required going into the oven. All four of my casseroles required a half hour at 350 degrees. That simplified a lot and made things very easy when Fatty finally came out of the oven in his properly cooked and lightly-browned glory. While the fatso rested, into the oven went the casseroles. While those baked away, I got to work on the gravy--which I was totally intimidated by. I was convinced there wouldn't be enough juices to fulfill the amount needed, but by George, there was! I taste-tested the gravy--which I am glad I remembered to do because it was bland as can be--and added a healthy dose of salt. Voila! Perfection.

Last came the stuffing and the biscuits. The biscuits was the one and only task I assigned to someone else to handle. Somehow I managed to go through the entire day turning down offers of help from my husband, sister, brother-in-law, and even my nephew (who I think was bored and just wanted something to do). I was just so surprised how under control I was that I really wanted to see if I could pull it off by myself without coming unglued--you know, like I normally do when I take on too many tasks in the kitchen. But with the casseroles on the table, the turkey to still be carved, and me working on the stuffing, I needed one extra set of hands in that moment or else risked getting a little behind and letting the food get cold.



But somehow, some way, everything managed to arrive on the table--still hot and steaming--and tasted delicious. Fatty was super moist and juicy. I was beyond pleased with how it turned out and decided that getting up at 4:30am was completely worth it. It also shattered my fear of roasting turkeys and I am no longer afraid of the challenge. All Fatties be damned! I laugh in your face now!!

One of the nicest surprises of the meal was the corn casserole. Originally, I'd planned to just have plain corn. But with Becky's convincing--yet again--I turned it into corn casserole. She had a super simple recipe, so I figured why not? It was beyond fattening, but good God almighty, it was insanely delicious! It came second place only to the mashed potatoes. Hehe...


Let's have a moment of silence for the Snowy Mashed Potatoes. I think they should be on the cover of Life Magazine, personally....


Together, I enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving day with my husband, my sister and her family, and my dad who ended up being a last-minute guest, which pleased me to no end. After dinner we digested and watched The Nun's Story (a great old Audrey Hepburn movie that was on TV that day). Later we enjoyed my sister's homemade apple and pumpkin pies (delicious, Beth!) with her homemade whipped cream. Our bellies were beyond satisfied with the day's results.

I have family, friends, a home, a job, and food on my table. For that, I am truly thankful.


Oh, and in case anyone is interested...
















Easy Corn Casserole

-1 can creamed corn
-1 can sweet corn
-1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
-1 cup sour cream
-1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix everything but the butter together and spread evenly in a 9x13 baking pan. Dot the top of the mixture with pats of the butter (you can use less of a stick if you can feel your arteries clogging as you slice the butter--it's up to you, though!).

Bake for 30 minutes till bubbling and enjoy!


Now was that easy or what? Fattening and possibly lethal, yes, but easy!

1 comment:

  1. Congrats on a great Thanksgiving! I have yet to host/cook for one and am quite intimidated by the idea. Go you! So glad everything turned out well!

    ReplyDelete