Turkey Review

Sunday we hosted Thanksgiving Dinner for Mr. B's dad's family. Seven adults and a shrimpy joined in the first celebration at our home. It was an eventful evening with lots of food! The turkey was the hardest adventure of the meal. And behold I over cooked the bird. Yes, I did it. Mr. B laughed at me because I was so disappointed with my meal.

Here is what we did, so you don't make the same mistake. Plus I've learned for next year.
We used the roaster oven instead of the regular oven. I wanted to try this for several reasons. The oven would not be on all day and I can save room for other items to put in later. I didn't want buy a roasting pan for the oven. Where would I keep it???? We received a roaster oven for a wedding present and I might as well use the sucker.

To start our preparation, I put the bird in the frig on Wednesday. Our frig is really cool and milk freezes easily. So I was worried that it would not defrost by Sunday. Check- Bird did defrost. Then we started to clean the bird out. Mr. B and I hate skin. So we took the skin off the bird. Good choice. I'd do that again.
I read somewhere to make a "bath" for the bird to cook in. So I didn't stuff it because that would have taken longer to cook. We put 4 can of chicken broth in the bottom of the roaster with onions and celery. We seasoned the bird with a mix of spices and olive oil. That was good. I don't have a clue what he mixed up. But it made the bird have good flavor.

Here is the problem we had. My MIL said to reduce the temp my 25 degree on anything you cook in the roaster. Check! I learned that you're not to open the oven to check on the cooking b/c it lose heat and doesn't recover as fast as a traditional oven. So I didn't open it until 3 hours and 45 minutes. The time I figured out how long it was going to take to cook the bird. BIG MISTAKE! Once we open the lid when the timer went off, we found that the pop-up timer was popped and it looked dry. My response was "We killed it." That is where Mr. B started to laugh while taste testing and replied "I'm pretty sure it was dead before we put it in the oven."

So there you have it. We over cooked the turkey. My very first turkey!! His step-sister said I had to attempt it again because it takes at least 3 Thanksgivings to figure it out. Great! So I guess they are coming back next Thanksgiving to see if I oven cook another bird.

What would I change for next time? Well I would keep the temp at 300 degrees. But I think I'll set the timer for 3 hours and check it. I believe that is when the turkey really started to smell good in the oven. I want to try it again. But I don't want to have all those leftovers. So if anyone wants to have dinner at the B's come right over. Don't be surprised if it's another dry turkey.

What's for dinner?

Bottom line: I read a lot of food blogs. I like cooking and exploring my skills as a cook.

So Turkey Day is almost here. And I bet you're wondering what could I be fixing for our first officially holiday meal. Well....

Here is our menu so far:
Turkey
Stuffing - I haven't decided on a recipe yet
Dixie's Mash Potatoes (a gal from work & I'll be sharing after I make it)
Twiced-Bake Sweet Potatoes
Orange-Cranberry Sauce - I hate traditional cranberries and they taste like the can. So I got this one from a guy at work at few years ago. And I'd like to share it with you.


Orange- Cranberry Sauce

2 bags of ocean spray cranberries
1 can of slice mandarin oranges
2-4 whole cloves
cinnamon to taste
1/2 can OJ concentrate
1 1/2 cups of sugar
4 cups of water

on the stove top

dissolve sugar into waterput in berries & clovesbring to a boil until they pop (this will be messy)then stir and reduce heat
add cinnamon
add OJ
add oranges
my directions say to taste to test cinnamon, but i never do b/c it's really hot
let the water cook off a lot, I'd say about 20-30m until it thickens uptaste and adjust
pour into bowl & refrigerate.
Can be make no more than 2 days in advance of serving.

Where is the gravy boat?

As to no surprise, Thanksgiving has been on my mind A LOT! Yesterday, while showering I remembered that we don't have a gravy boat with our every day set of dishes. We're hosting thanksgiving dinner in less than a week and we don't have a gravy boat. Why in the world would I have a gravy boat or need one more than once of twice a year? Well you do need a gravy boat when you're serving Thanksgiving with gravy in fact. No, I don't know how to make gravy and yes, I already have the pre-made kind.

Since I don't have a gravy boat, I figured it is a great opportunity to check out the China set my great aunt left me. It's still sitting in boxes in the extra bedroom closet. We just have not had an opportunity to use the China set or for that matter make another home for it. So this weeks project among others: to wash the China set and find a gravy bowl. Wish me luck!

Getting up for Turkey Time

This year is our FIRST holiday season as Mr. & Mrs. B. We have a home together and share a life. Well, I've had the brilliant idea of hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at our home for his dad's family the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Mr. B's step-sister is a nurse, his brother is working on T-Day, and we're traveling to Thanksgiving to celebrate with my family plus my grandpa's 90th birthday.

As of right now, it is working out to host THE event or really our first event as husband and wife. Well Mr. B is on board with the idea. He knows that I'm crazy and most likely expected this was coming sometime.

So where are we at... well we've invited everyone to the dinner. We haven't officially set a start time. Yesterday, we created a menu and a list of items we needed to host such an event at our home. We did pick up a turkey at Hy-Vee a few days ago because it was such a great price. And this weekend, when I was at the store I picked up things that I knew we would need to make the event easier (ex. gravy, no my mom doesn't make gravy or even taught me).

Our trip to Target last night was eventful. We got to use a lot of wedding gift cards to purchase things like an electric knife that is used maybe twice a year, a fancy table clothe to extend our dinning room table, and bulbs for the kitchen lights because they have been out for a while....

Now to the big question... How do I roast a turkey??? I'm thinking of using our electric roaster and then have the oven free for other stuff. If you have any turkey tips please share. My parents normally smoke their turkey at Thanksgiving. We do have their old smoker, but we need more practice on it than at such a big event.

So please help a newly wed out... please let your suggestions on roasting a turkey.