T-Day check- in thread .DU chefs start your ovens!

[fishnfla]

I know you're up working in the kitchen and it aint breakfast you're fixin. Got 16 in-laws coming over and put the bird in the oven at 8:15 am est.

I love Thanksgiving, 3 days of shopping and cooking for a meal thats eaten at halftime!

Good luck DU chefs! :hi:

[hobbit709]

1. All I have to is make a cobbler

and take it to my brother's. Apricot-Raspberry.

[fishnfla]

2. Lucky

Yummy

[NMDemDist2]

3. since it's just Mr. K and I, we skip straight to the leftovers (our favorite part)

so last night I went and got a veggie tray, a cheese and fruit tray, some apples, a smoked turkey breast and some hawaiian rolls. I even bought a pre-made tray of deviled eggs (Which are surprisingly good)

so all i have to do today is fix a relish tray and slice some turkey and some of my An5 bread and we'll snack and graze all day long.

lazy? you betcha!! but it's my only day off and work this weekend will be nutz and I'm going in Friday for overtime

I'll be cooking up a storm next week when the in-laws hit town tho....

golden birds and light mashed to you and yours!

happy t-day

:hi:

[hippywife]

5. A very Happy T-Day

to you and Mr. K., S. As always, I'm thankful for making your acquaintance. Enjoy your day off to the max! :hug:

[NMDemDist2]

7. and to you too my dear

your feast sounds wonderful, enjoy your long weekend :hug:

:hi:

[hippywife]

4. The bird has been removed from the brine and rinsed.

There aren't any giblets so I cut off the wing tips and the pope's nose (what we Italians call the tail, LOL) and reserved those to boil for the stuffing. The cavity has been stuffed with thin lemon slices, garlic cloves, and fresh rosemary sprigs, and the whole thing massaged down with butta. She's in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, breast side up. Then I'll turn her over and turn the temp down.

Made the cranberries and sweet potatoes last night. Nothing ground breaking but in addition to the butter, salt and brown sugar, I sprinkled the sweet taters with a wee bit o' cloves and nutmeg. Yum! Like having a sweet potatoe pie without the added work.

We still need to make deviled eggs, green beans, punkin pie, and brown sugar ice cream to top it with.

Hope everyone has a delicious day. :hi:

Oh, I almost forgot the rolls! Can't forget the rolls. ;)

[EFerrari]

12. I wasn't sure if the boyd was thawed so went backwards.

Baked the potatoes and yams, then threw in the pies and now get to wrestle with (hopefully) a fully thawed turkey.

[elleng]

24. My Dad calls it the part that goes over the fence last!!!!

:hi:

[eleny]

6. Just got ours out of the fridge

T-Day is always pretty low key around here. By later afternoon it'll all be ready for us two to dig in. :hi:

[Neecy]

8. This was my kick-off event

I can't believe I made a Paula Deen recipe, but this looked so perfect (and simple) for breakfast I decided to try it. I put most of it together last night and just threw it in the oven this morning.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/baked-french-toast-casserole-with-maple-syrup-recipe2/index.html

I passed on the maple syrup, since it was sweet enough without it. It was amazingly good.

[livetohike]

9. Did all the baking yesterday - pumpkin pies, apple pie and

a pecan/caramel cheesecake. Small gathering this year - just eight of us. Rather easy on me this time :hi: Have a good one!

[japple]

10. Got the turkey roasting, got the dressing made, got the

cranberry sauce done, and the red cabbage w/apple braised. Rolls are made. Dried apple tart & pecan pie are done. The hard part is over! Happy Thanksgiving to all DU C & B'ers.

[EFerrari]

11. Help. Nothing specific. Just help.

:rofl:

[hippywife]

13. LOL!

You really be funny, E. :rofl:

Hope it's all going as smoothly as possible for you today. :hi:

[EFerrari]

14. We're cautiiously optimistic!

Very simple this year and I'm cooking alone while everyone went to the family (soccer) Turkey Bowl. When the nieces arrive, then all bets are off. If things get too hairy, I'll just swipe one of the pies and go hide in the barn with my laptop. :silly:

Hope you have fun today. :hi:

[hippywife]

15. I bet it turns out great.

It's nice to cook without a whole lot of people hovering around making noise. My beans are cooking and the rolls are almost done so we'll be eating soon.

Bill just mixed up the filling for his punkin pie. It started in the food processor and ran all over the sides and out from underneath. Yes, I have Red Green in my kitchen today. :rofl:

Have a loverly time. :hug:

[hippywife]

37. I gotta report that even though he made a bit of a mess

Bill made the best punkin pie EVER! I've not tasted one that good from him or anyone else. :9

And we ended up not having the green beans. I put them on with a little water so they would steam and not boil, and I left them too long. Scorched beyond salvaging, unfortunately. :(

[annabanana]

16. I always have a terrible time timing the damn bird... Some

years it's done an hour before everything else... Sometimes everything cools off for hours waiting for the dumb turkey.. Sometimes it lets loose plenty of moist for basting, sometimes there's nothing to scoop.

However.. I make a pretty good stuffing. (And the best apple pie in the world.)

So they usually forgive me.

[EFerrari]

18. What is your apple pie secret?

Come on, it's a special day. Spill!

:hi:

[annabanana]

19. 10 mins before it's done... pour some heavy cream & maple syrup

wisked up frothy into the vents....

that's the big one.

[tigereye]

27. our 22 pounder was done right on time - almost to the minute

not sure how that happened! :rofl: Looked and tasted wonderful.

[EFerrari]

17. What do the cooking gods do to you if you don't trim the fresh green beans?

Isn't that where all the vitamins are?

lol

[kestrel91316]

20. I'm going to a friend's for dinner, lol. No work for ME! But I AM taking her

a loaf of freshly baked sourdough bread, because I had an urge to bake today.

[Irishonly]

21. Bird is almost done

The stuffing and scalloped corn are waiting to go into the oven. The potatoes and brussel sprouts are waiting to cook. I made the salad, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce last night. This is our first Thanksgiving without our daughters and a lot of things I would make I didn't. It's been an easy dat.

[Tesha]

22. I love guests for dinner....

especially when they bring food!
We sat down at @2:00 and finished at 7:00 - long leisurely dinner from the soup course to the nuts and port.

What a great day!

[Irishonly]

23. Very Cool

Our big family dinner will be in January. Usually we have a houseful but my husband is still adjusting to his new hip so we took it easy this year.

When I was a kid my grandmother used to cook for at least fifty. She thought dishwashers were a waste of energy and way back then the girls got to do dishes while the boys played football.

[EFerrari]

26. We did the dishes while the men fell asleep at my mother in law's house.

But the incentive to get them done was Lady would make us vodka gimlets and play cards with us. She was a terror. :)

[tigereye]

28. my husband loads up the dishwasher three times - he's wonderful

he and my son made the mashed potatoes and relish. I wrestled with the bird. And the dining room always looks so pretty. I have a chandelier with a mirrored/box beam ceiling, and the reflection of the lights and candles is so nice. Very festive.


I feel blessed. :D

[Irishonly]

32. LOL

Sounds like she was quite the lady. My granny loved bourbon. She would never try it though. She said the smell was enough.

[EFerrari]

35. I loved that woman even more than her son.

She was so patient with me when I was basically still a teenager and had no idea how to manage a full meal, let alone a kitchen, let alone a BUDGET. LOL

:toast: to June, my very favorite bar tender of all times.

[Irishonly]

36. Wow

:toast: What a woman.

[pengillian101]

25. Happy T-day to C&B pals!

Laying low with just a cornish game hen dinner today. Family coming on Saturday - ribs, etc. that day.

[hippywife]

31. Enjoy your day tomorrow, dear gilli! n/t

[Duer 157099]

29. I had 2 major successes yesterday

While I wanted to brine, I ended up running out of time/space and so I went with the simplest path possible and just crossed my fingers. Rinsed the bird (17 lbs), patted dry and then made a blend of spices (S&P, smoked paprika, onion and garlic powders and some fresh thyme) smushed with softened butter and then rubbed all over the bird and under the breast skin.

Had hoped to use one of those cooking bags but discovered I didn't have a big enough one, so, just put the bird breast-side down in roasting pan with grid rack on the bottom, into a 350 degree oven and just let it go. After it had been in for about 3.5 hours, figured it was time to turn on the computer and look up how long it should cook, lol - and found a chart that said 3.5-4 hours, so I took it out and then let it rest for the next hour while the rest of the meal was prepared.

Used the pan drippings from the turkey to make a gravy that was the BEST turkey gravy I have ever had, let alone made. I don't know why it was so good, but it was just fantastic. Oh yeah, I had simmered the turkey "parts" (neck, giblets etc) for a couple of hours in seasoned water (same seasonings as use to prepare the turkey, plus a bay leaf) and used that in the gravy too.

Then it was doubly good news after carving the bird to find out it was cooked perfectly, was moist and flavorful and just absolutely fantastic. I had turned the bird breast-up for the last hour of cooking. No basting, no cavity filled with anything. This turkey had been in the bottom of my freezer for over a year and I wasn't even sure how it'd turn out. So I was really surprised!

Then, later in the evening my thoughts turned to, naturally, a turkey sandwich. And I thought: hmmmm, i wonder if I should spread some of that turkey gravy on the bread (I had made the gravy very thick) and so I made a simple sandwich with a little mayo first (to keep the bread from getting soggy) and then spread some of the cooled gravy on the bread and some white meat, and it was incredible! Spreadable gravy as a sandwich condiment, why hadn't I ever thought of that before?

All in all, a huge success considering how little planning and effort went into it!

[EFerrari]

33. That spice mix sounds really good!

I was so focused on the sides yesterday that when it came time to prepare the turkey, my mind just went blank. So all he got was rubbed with sage and rosemary, salt and pepper and copious amounts of olive oil inside and out. Turned out pretty well. You'd think that after all these years of cooking birds, preparing one would be fully automatic!

[hippywife]

30. Sounds like everyone had a successful day yesterday.

I ended up sleeping most of today away. I got up at 5:30 for just a little while. Had a cup of coffee and laid down on the couch and fell back to sleep until 8. Laid back down around 10 to read some more and didn't wake up again until 2:30. I guess yesterday was more work than I realized at the time. :rofl:

Glad everyone had a wonderful holiday. The C&B group is a great place to be on DU. :hi:

[EFerrari]

34. You had a "black out friday", too?

:)

I walked the dogs, thought about leftovers and ate today. That was it. I may have to do all those things one more time before I rest tonight. lol