My Thanksgiving Menu
The Meal
Turkey 22 -24 lbs
Spiral Ham
Homemade Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Green bean Casserole
Little Ear Corn on the Cob
Stuffing
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Homemade Rolls
Cranberry Sauce
Snacks to Nash on Before the MEAL
Deviled Eggs
Spinach Dip
Cranberry Bread
Cheese Ball & Crackers
The Best Part Dessert
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Pumpkin Pie
Grandma Rose’s Jello Salad
Now you will notice there are not any pictures in this post. I could probably go search the Internet and come up with a few to sprinkle through my post but I won’t.
I know there are millions of food blogs out there showing their beautifully photographed Thanksgiving food. What I wonder about there is……. one are the pictures from this year? And if so why are they cooking their Thanksgiving yummies before Thanksgiving??
I am just a regular mama, wife and Grammy. I have a very hectic life taking care of my grand babies during the day and then trying to get caught up once they go home. But sometimes they are right back later that night so I have to start all over again once they leave once again.
I am keeping it real so I will not be cooking anything until Thanksgiving so my pictures if I manage to get any decent ones will come after the festivities have happened.
How I cook my Turkey
Now I am not real sure why I started cooking my turkey this way but I have been doing it like this for years. My turkeys are always moist and not dried out. Now sometimes my turkey is so moist that the meat literally falls from the bones. You may not end up with a perfectly plated bird. If you like to plate your entire turkey on a serving platter and bring it to the table this might not work for you.
If you like to slice your turkey meat and serve it on a platter this method is perfect for you. I gave up trying to serve my turkey on the dining room table once my family had grown so big that having a huge turkey platter on the table just didn’t make sense. It took up too much room.
I cook a large turkey each year. My family is big. We have eleven altogether with the little grand babies. Only one of them is too small to eat table food. But I have always cooked a 20 – 24 pound turkey. If you cook a smaller bird you might not have any trouble lifting your fall apart tender and cooked turkey from your roasting pan like I do. It takes two people to get a huge bird like I cook out of the roasting pan.
How To Prepare your Turkey for Roasting
You will need a roasting pan large enough for your bird.
A box of stick margarine, none of the tub stuff for this job.
Aluminum foil
Take your turkey and prepare it for cooking by removing the plastic packaging and placing it in a clean sink ( I usually clean my sink with bleach and rinse well) and removing the neck bone, gizzards and rinsing the cavity out. The amount of cleaning you need to do will really depend on the brand of turkey you have purchased. For years I have always thought that all turkeys were created equally but this is not true. The more expensive brands are much cleaner then a store brand. I am sure that is how they cut the cost down. Sometimes you may find the little nubs of feathers still in the skin. Grab onto them and tug. They will come right out.
Now it is confession time. One year I actually forgot to take the neck bone and bag of gizzards out of the turkey. I had been cooking turkeys for years when it happened so that made it even funnier to me. I was in a rush to get my bird in the oven and totally forgot.
Put your turkey in your roasting pan, breast side up. If your turkey came with those strings you wrap around the bird to help lift it from the pan wrap those around the bird. If you have a roasting rack put it in the pan before you put the turkey in. I have never used a roasting rack so I am not sure what a difference this will make in cooking your bird.
Once your turkey is settled in to the pan open your box of margarine.Unwrap on stick and stick it in the cavity of the bird. Unwrap another stick and pinch of a nice chunk and stuff it under the skin of the turkey breast. You will be able to separate the skin from the meat with out problem. Now do the same around the back end of the bird by pulling the loose skin away from the bird and sticking 3/4 of a stick of margarine under the loose skin.Pinch pieces off the stick of margarine so there isn’t a huge lump.
By now you have used about 2 sticks of the four sticks of margarine in the box. Dry off the skin of the turkey if it is moist. Take another stick and smush it up in your hand and smear it all over the skin of the turkey. With the final stick break it up and nestle chunks over the wings and drum sticks.
I have in the past stuffed garlic cloves under the breast skin along with the margarine. It adds a great flavor. But for Thanksgiving I just use the margarine. You can use garlic or any other herbs you would like if you want to. For me it wouldn’t
be Thanksgiving if the turkey meat was flavored with anything but turkey LOL.
be Thanksgiving if the turkey meat was flavored with anything but turkey LOL.
Cover your entire roasting pan with aluminum. Start by draping the aluminum over the center of the turkey from side to side on the pan, Now drape the aluminum at the back end of the bird and do the same at the front end of the bird. If there are any gaps cover with another piece of aluminum.
Make sure the aluminum hangs over a bit so you can crimp it along the edges of your roasting pan. Creating an airtight seal. You do not want any steam escaping the pan. That’s it. You don’t need to baste your turkey at all during the cooking.
This method also cuts down on cooking time. I have had a 20 pound bird finished in 3 1/2 hours when I accidentally set my over on 375. Totally screwed up my time schedule that Thanksgiving.
Cook your bird at 325 for 4 1/2 hours. After 3 hours carefully remove the aluminum and set aside. Peel off one corner first to allow some steam to escape so you don’t get hit with a big puff of steam and get burned,
You can reuse the aluminum to recover the bird when it is time to stash it in the fridge no sense in wasting it.
Now remeber that oven tempertures vary so you may have to adjust your cooking time accordingly.
One great way to make sure your turkey or even a whole chicken is done is to wiggle the dumb stick. If the drum stick moves freely and feels like it would fall off if you tugged it the meat is cooked. If you feel any tiny bit of resistance the meat is not done cooking. Use a thermometer if you have one to check the internal temp if your unsure!
Enjoy. If you try this cooking method please let me know how your bird turned out.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks so much for this useful post! I've never cooked a turkey alone before – I always need lots of input.
I'm familiar with everything on your menu except Little Ears. What are they?
Love your blog.
- Lauren
http://www.ladaisi.blogspot.com
Lauren
Thank you for reading my blog and I am so happy I could be of help in your Thanksgiving meal.
Little ears are mini frozen corn on the cob.
Very traditional Thanksgiving menu.!
They seem scrumptious altogether. 