*Gadzooks* ! I'm Up At 4AM Basting my Bird !

[Joshua_me]

To explain:

This is both the largest turkey I have ever cooked, (a 27-pounder !) and the most people I have ever attempted to serve Thanksgiving dinner to at one time. (18, possibly 20 !)

Now, I'm sure that many of you reading this are thinking to yourselves, "No big deal", but for someone who thought cooking for a dozen folks at one time was a challenge, this seems like a bridge too far.

Oh, wait, it gets better...

My better half, (and that's a royal, MAYBE at this point ) Has returned from South Dakota where, apparently, they, umm, grow the best turkey's in the free world, and with him has brought his immediate family and this bird from heaven above whom no one bothered to mention to me would still be a quarter frozen upon it's arrival.

(So advanced is this turkey that I halfway expect him to rise from his partially frozen status, and upon a brief inspection of my kitchen decide that the Mexican tile floor clashes with the counter tops and fly out the window, catching the next train to Rapid City.)

But, I digress.

So, as his family snore away, seemingly oblivious in what it's going to take to bring this turkey and several expected sides dishes to the table, I am dreaming of a Christmas at the FontaineBleau in Miami.

Could that dream come true ?

Perhaps.

But for now I'm gentlently massaging the small parts of the still-frozen bird under warm water as the kind and elderly face emerging from the Uncle Ben's wild rice box reminds me it's time to start the sausage and rice stuffing.

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my Dis friends !!!

(Wish me luck!)

 

[PulsarIII]

Good Luck & Happy Thanksgiving

I I I

 

[*NikkiBell*]

You can do it!!!! You can do it!!!! Please share pics here of the larger-than-life bird once it's done!!

 

[wdwscout]

Yup... That's a BIG bird!!
Hopefully he has fit in some sort of roasting pan and is on his way to becoming a feast!
Once the bird is in the oven, the rest seems to fall into place.

But, after many years of rising early to make stuffing and get the bird in the oven- I now order the whole dinner from Shop Rite. Already cooked (I do have to heat everything) - it gives me many hours of my life back.

Hope your day is wonderful and you get to Miami at Christmastime!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[WaltD4Me]

Love the bird dissing the clashing tiles and countertop!

I feel better....I was just cursing myself for thinking that stuffing cherry tomatoes was a good idea.
Have you ever tried to scoop out the insides of a cherry tomato? It's alot like snot and not fun.

You can do this!!!!!!!!!! It'll be fabulous, just keep this in mind to keep you motivated and it will all be worth it.......

 

[WorldWacky]

So I've gotta ask...how did the giant bird turn out and were you able to stay awake to enjoy it?

 

[SA mom]

My sister-in-law is in studying in Rome and she and her housemates roasted a turkey. They had to special order it and as they were walking through the grocery store with the bird in the cart, Italian women kept stopping them and asking them what they were doing with it and how on earth were they going to cook it.

She said it was wonderful, but not has good as her mothers.

 

[Joshua_me]

Thanks for all the kind replies, everyone !

(And an extra Thanks to WaltD4Me for the great Miami pic !)

In short, "Birdzilla" and I arrived at a mutually amicable decision and joined forces to make a fairly good holiday meal, if I do say so myself.

(The head count ended up being 24 for dinner, and I had to take a deep breath and tell myself that a few people sitting on the furniture in the den and eating off of plates on their laps was NOT the end of the world. )

Besides, football was on TV and I could have served Big Mac's for all they cared...

Sorry, but no pics of this event worth posting, since the charger for my "point and shoot" decided to disappear for the weekend.

(I miss the "old kind" where you could just just drop a couple of fresh AA batteries in and click away...) Oh well.

In the end, I'm glad I was able to pull things off with only a few hitches, and truth be told once my Mom showed up around noon things seemed MUCH easier.

I guess we never get too old for that.

 

[SA mom]

Both my mom and my mother-in-law have that sort of magic. True, we are never too old for that.

What's the menu for Christmas? Will someone be bringing a whole hog?

 

[Joshua_me]

What's the menu for Christmas? Will someone be bringing a whole hog?

^ Ha !

Don't give them any idea's !!!

As for the menu for Christmas, one need to look no further than the Fontainebleau room service menu printed here:


http://www.fontainebleau.com/FILE/4017.pdf



If any fellow DISser's find themselves in the area from Christmas to NYE, PLEASE give us a holler via FB, or whatever the social media of your choice may be...

It's always great fun to meet new DISser's

I'll prolly be posting before then, but in case I'm not, I just want to take a second to express how important The Dis has become to me... Kevin and John, Corey and Julie, Kathy, and of course Pete & Walter and Theresa and ALL the other DISer's I'm forgetting....

I KNOW that all of you hear a million times a month how special the Podcast is to all of us "out there", but please don't let the frequency of the comments diminish their importance.

You guys keep us company in our cars, our homes, our elliptical machines when 5 more minutes seems impossible...

You are, quite simply, in this new digital age-our families. And with that being said, I offer the most sincerest of wishes for the happiest of happy holidays to you and yours.

*clink*

And here's to 2013 ! Goodness knows what it will bring.

Major (((HUGS))) to you all !

Joshua