Thanksgiving 2019.
 

I have not figured out what I am going to do for thanksgiving dinner.
No one to make happy but myself.'
You see I put the frozen turkey bird thing in the refrigerator on Monday and it is still half frozen.
What to do with this reluctant frozen bird thing that evolved from a dinosaur.
The temperature is going to be in the 50's here where I live so I figured what the heck just toss it on the hard wood garage floor over night.
That should do it and maybe it will soak up some of that oak hardwood flavor.
Maybe even some cutting oil flavor to boot from my metal lathe.
Highly doubt it because the thing is in a plastic wrapper but we can all wish now cant we.
No real sides yet because I was too lazy to go to the store to get anything.
Besides I have stuff stashed away in the freezer.
Plus I have a ton of dried stuff for dressing.
The store opens up tomorrow morning at 6 AM.
I might go or I might not.
Wont know till the time comes.
I simply dont give a crap.
Reason is I have a choice many dont.
Many will be hungry and no choice.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Submerging your turkey in a big pot or sink of water will thaw it faster.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You can dry brine a frozen bird while it's thawing.
Not sure if it makes it thaw any faster, but it sure made a better turkey for me. :)

[QUOTE=bower;750330]You can dry brine a frozen bird while it's thawing.
Not sure if it makes it thaw any faster, but it sure made a better turkey for me. :)[/QUOTE]

Sounds like what Worth is doing.:yes:
I recall my first turkey experience. When I was 16 i worked for Loblaws and bought a well frozen turkey. Before going away for the weekend i put it out under the sink in a basin, still wrapped. Got back after two days away and roasted it. No one died! Nor even got a little sick. A miracle! :lol: We were all young and had strong digestive systems then.

A happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

DH is the traditional Bringer of the Homemade Cranberry Sauce, & I'm the traditional Bringer of the Yams. Tomorrow morning we'll both be cooking; dinner is on the table at my mother's place at 1 PM.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! We will deep fry a couple or 3, 14 # birds, drink a beer and tell lies as we wait......

Any hints on yams? We do the whole meal (others do Christmas and Easter), guests will probably bring wine. Last year I was not at all satisfied with the canned yams we used. We can't bake them in the oven because it is not big enough.

We have experimented with peeling them and then cooking in the microwave...too dry. For ourselves we always cook them in the microwave and serve with the skin on and they come out fine. We want to try cooking in the microwave with skin on and then scraping out the inside and then placing in the serving pan. They are already pretty sweet but I think we have to put something on top, brown sugar? or some maple syrup? I don't want to use the traditional marshmallows. They will go in a catering style stainless steel server/warmer. I am hoping to make them several hours in advance and keep them hot in the server with the lid on. The texture will be a bit like course mashed potatoes with melted brown sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

Will this work? My son's girlfriend may be available to help with cutting and scooping out the yams. We can do three or four at a time in the microwave. The whole yam preparation thing might be a good project for her.

It does get busy and I like to get as much done as early as possible. We do get some help from guests that arrive early.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving Saturday because traffic here on Thursday is undoable.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, cranberry sauce, salad (no romaine), chips, dip, crackers, cheese, various cookies, candies and snacks, wine, beer and water...coffee. What am I forgetting?

Serving 14

[QUOTE=Nan_PA_6b;750342]DH is the traditional Bringer of the Homemade Cranberry Sauce, & [B]I'm the traditional Bringer of the Yams.[/B] Tomorrow morning we'll both be cooking; dinner is on the table at my mother's place at 1 PM.[/QUOTE]

Browned butter and toasted pecans as a topping?

Just make sure you put holes in the yams/sweet potatoes.
Had one blow up one time, sounded like a bomb going off.
NOT fun.:no:
The turkey is thawed but didn't dry brine.
Been up since 3:30 AM my normal wake up time.
Debating on going to grocery store that opens at 6:00AM and closes at 2:30PM.

Took off to the store at 6:10 AM.
Made it back in record time (40 minutes there and back) and was first in line at the checkout counter.

Got my celery, Price pimento cheese spread to stuff the celery, easy melt cheese for mac and cheese, a nice deluxe pecan pie, eggs, coffee and a few other odds and ends.
So glad I didn't go yesterday after work.

Bottoms up Tops up.
 

This way I have room in the oven without the spread out spatchcock thing.
It also allows me to cook each type of meat to my liking and pull it out when ready and all the skin gets crispy.
Spices simple and my favorite for poultry, black pepper salt and garlic powder.
Nothing fancy.
Gonna toss a few yellow onions in to boot.
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My recipe calls for

1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. melted butter


Mix & crumble over casserole.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!!!!

I bought a turkey to try that method later Worth, I also see many people breaking the turkey down into pieces to cook faster.

We're having Turkey day next door at my sisters and All I'm doing is cooking a turkey in the oilless fryer and I made pies and gravy last night. Sis is also roasting a turkey and making all the sides.

I made two new recipes, one is a strawberry/banana jello pie and the other is pecan cheesecake.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/By5G4fz/100-5670.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/yWHGJcr/100-5671.jpg[/img]

Got a 12 lb'er in the oven and I'm starting to catch a hint of turkey in the air. No green bean casserole this year (great recipe made from scratch with fresh beans) because a few weeks ago I got a craving for it and just had to make it. :D

Turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, Brussells sprouts sauteéd in lemon butter, broccoli salad, Waldorf salad, home canned cranberry sauce, fresh made rolls and the usual Libby's pumpkin pie. This year I cheated and used the Pillsbury pie dough.

And wearing the expando pants today, probably a pair of sweat pants! :lol:

The strawberry banana pie looks killer.
Cooking the Turkey at 250F for a low and slow cook.
Have a digital thermometer inserted in the breast set at 148F.
This is so I can start paying attention.:lol:

[B]imp[/B] [I]Browned butter and toasted pecans as a topping? [/I]

[B]Worth1[/B] [I]Just make sure you put holes in the yams/sweet potatoes. Had one blow up one time, sounded like a bomb going off. NOT fun[/I]... will do

[B]Nan_PA_6b[/B] [I]My recipe calls for
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. melted butter[/I]

[I]Mix & crumble over casserole. [/I]

[I]Pecans and butter sound good Thanks all.[/I]

[I]____________________________________________________[/I]
[I]____________________________________________________[/I]

I will give pecans and butter a try. Thanks all.

I failed to mention the pumpkin pie, apple pie, whipped cream and ice cream.

Today I start the gravy. We have just finished a turkey we had just for ourselves and I will be boiling the bones with some carrots, celery and poultry spice. I could not find turkey bouillon without too much salt so I decided to make it myself.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Happy Thanksgiving.

My family made "[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%BAn_b%C3%B2_Hu%E1%BA%BF"]bun bo hue[/URL]". It had beef, cow's trotter, and cooked blood. Honestly because of the msg, I try to not have too much of the soup.

YAMS -I prefer to bake them until the skin starts to get loose from the flesh. The yams get caramelized and have a smoother and richer texture than microwaving. I slather them in butter and I'm a happy camper. Not much of a showpiece for a holiday but I have to watch my sugar.

- Lisa


[B][I][COLOR=Red]Tetsukabuto[/COLOR][/I][I][COLOR=Red] (F1) Hubbard Squash
[/COLOR][/I][/B]

The only unblemished squash was saved for my holiday side dish, prepared with brushed olive oil only. This variety had very good subtle sweet flavor. It might be interesting to try this with some of the sweeter preparation recipes in this thread to perk the flavor and not be overly sweet. Note sure how to keep it protected from the critters taking bites as it matures.

Yam casserole I made today.
2x 29 oz cans yams/sweet potatoes in syrup, drained, syrup retained
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 c. melted butter (I used part butter & part Smart Balance)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup reserved syrup
Mash & whip yams. Mix with other ingredients. Spray a 9x13" pan with PAM. Put mixture in pan. Bake 350*F, 1 hour.

While baking, if desired, you can take the rest of the reserved yam syrup, add brown sugar to taste, and heat till hot & sugar is dissolved. Also, chop pecans if desired. Offer syrup and pecans as toppings for people to add to their portion.

I'm wondering if the butter amount could be cut back some.

[QUOTE=maxjohnson;750377]Honestly because of the msg, I try to not have too much of the soup.[/QUOTE]

Why are you avoiding MSG? Hypertension?

Sliced moist turkey breast cornbread dressing raw cranberry celery relish on the right cinnamon clove cranberry sauce on left.
Stuffed celery in the middle and gravy.
The breast had a maximum temperature of 155F after sitting.
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Everyone's meals look and sound wonderful. My daughter is vegan :oops: so we made a vegan Shepherds Pie which was actually quite good. I wanted to make broccoli for a side but she said that we already had enough veggies in the pie. Thanksgiving is not about the food but the company. Friends and family make my day and I am grateful for that.

I must confess though that I do have a turkey that I will make this weekend for myself.

@Worth, the combination of celery and cranberry sounds delicious! :)
@MissS, a savoury pie was the main course at my friend's vegetarian thanksgiving dinner this year... it was delicious! and the sides were great as well - gotta love vegetables! :D

Thank you.:)
The celery was crunchy and added a nice new texture to the relish.
All I did was split the celery down the middle and then cut it into about 1/4 cubes.
Put one 12 ounce bag of frozen cranberries and one cup of sugar in food processor and chopped them up.
Then folded in the celery.
The celery tasted like some sort of crunchy tropical fruit.
I bet cream cheese would be good in it.:yes:
The cinnamon clove cranberry sauce was really good also.

One thing I did this year I have never done before is to peel the gristle part off the gizzards.
They went in first then later I added the sliced cubed liver and heart.

I bet walnuts would go good in that cranberry sauce.

Thanksgiving would be worth having for the cranberry sauce alone. :roll::D I love partridgeberries the best, but cranberry will do in a pinch, it is the closest thing to it when partridgeberries can't be had. ;)

Nuts are good in this stuff but------.
I recommend putting them in right before you eat the stuff.
Otherwise they get soggy.
I had walnuts but I got weak and ate them the other night while reading.:oops::lol:

Update

We put a slice in the yams and cooked them in the microwave for about 5 minutes. Then cut them in half and scraped out the insides. The texture was a bit like mashed potatoes.

I didn't want to make a special trip so I used what I had on hand. I found a recipe online for crumb top. Rolled oats, butter and cinnamon then mash with a pastry dough blender and bake. It looked good until I burnt it. Then I used the dough blender to crush oatmeal cookies. That worked well for the topping. Placed the yams and the topping in a warming chaffing dish. I liked the end product much better than I did last year with opening a can of yams and heating them up. The flavor was much better.

Our guests are always looking for a way to help and this was a good project for them.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

[QUOTE=zeuspaul;750350]Any hints on yams? We do the whole meal (others do Christmas and Easter), guests will probably bring wine. Last year I was not at all satisfied with the canned yams we used. We can't bake them in the oven because it is not big enough.

We have experimented with peeling them and then cooking in the microwave...too dry. For ourselves we always cook them in the microwave and serve with the skin on and they come out fine. We want to try cooking in the microwave with skin on and then scraping out the inside and then placing in the serving pan. They are already pretty sweet but I think we have to put something on top, brown sugar? or some maple syrup? I don't want to use the traditional marshmallows. They will go in a catering style stainless steel server/warmer. I am hoping to make them several hours in advance and keep them hot in the server with the lid on. The texture will be a bit like course mashed potatoes with melted brown sugar or a drizzle of maple syrup on top.

Will this work? My son's girlfriend may be available to help with cutting and scooping out the yams. We can do three or four at a time in the microwave. The whole yam preparation thing might be a good project for her.

It does get busy and I like to get as much done as early as possible. We do get some help from guests that arrive early.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving Saturday because traffic here on Thursday is undoable.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams, cranberry sauce, salad (no romaine), chips, dip, crackers, cheese, various cookies, candies and snacks, wine, beer and water...coffee. What am I forgetting?

Serving 14[/QUOTE]

We had a layer TG meal(s) and now, I am sick of turkey, LOL!! I was craving it and dressing so much, but I think that is it for awhile now.