Last year the gang got together for a Friendsgiving the weekend after Thanksgiving to fry up some turkeys and chow down on seasonal goodies. This year, my neighbor C and I decided to co-host Thanksgiving at my place. Unfortunately, our seasoned turkey fryers were all out of town or working, so C and I decided to each roast a turkey. I've never cooked a turkey before. I don't even eat Thanksgiving turkey unless it is fried. Sounds like the perfect combo when looking for a Thanksgiving host, right?
After many consultations with the Internet and my Mama, I picked a turkey and recipe and set my sights on conquering the ever-elusive moist bird. There were a few bumps along the way, like not being able to find the bag of giblets until the first round of basting. Yeah, that one had me panicking, but it turned out just fine. I also had a defective pop-up thermometer in my turkey. After 4.5 hours we took her out, cut the breast and one other place to check whether the juices were running clear. Thankfully, she was done and not overcooked. Check out my Thanksgiving turkey picture below. I think I can call this one a success!
To complement the wonderful turkey, I also made my Mama's Thanksgiving dressing (adapted from my Grandmama D who is a fabulous cook, especially at Thanksgiving!), glazed carrots, garlic green beans, and pumpkin bread. C made a turkey, cornbread casserole, and banana bread. Sounds like a lot of food, but when you have 20 people coming over and some boys who can really put it away, we decided to ask for some more culinary help. Our friends brought cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, chocolate pie, twice baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole, bread, salad, and lots of wine. It was a fabulous dinner spent with great friends. I hope each of you had a wonderful day celebrating what you're thankful for over good food with good people.
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| Homemade dressing. :-) |
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A small sample of our fabulous food.
Notice the chopsticks. It is Vietnam after all. |
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| My first turkey! Isn't she pretty!?! |
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| Our Thanksgiving eaters, minus some late arrivers. |
Excellent! Sounds like it was a huge success! We missed having you here for Thanksgiving, but at least you had a good group of friends to celebrate with in Vietnam...and your Grandmama D. gave you a mini Thanksgiving meal while you were home! I'm thankful for so many things, but family and good friends are right there at the top of the list...especially my two wonderful daughters of whom I am sooooo proud!
ReplyDeleteLove the green jeans. I tried on their gray ones today, but they don't look as good on me as they do on you.
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