Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Thanksgiving Feast

Sorry, I'm a little late with posting this.

Thanksgiving lunch was at our new house. It was kind of last minute. Like, the Saturday before. Just in time to get the turkey out of the freezer and thawed in time.

The last couple years, we've had Thanksgiving lunch at our house in Springfield, and our parents and my brother came to eat at our house. We had a total of ten people at our house this year. Before we have our next big get together at our house, we need to invest in a folding table and some chairs. Our dining table came with 6 chairs, and we could probably fit 8.

I had a general idea when the turkey would be out of the oven (12:30), but it ended up being later than that - this turkey had a pop-up timer and it wouldn't pop! So, I had some snack foods...
I also had a veggie tray with hummus, but the cheese/sausage was a hit!

I made the turkey and stuffing. Just this year I found out the turkey stuffing recipe is my great-grandma's recipe, not my mom's as I always thought. It is so delicious that my grandpa went back for thirds and kept complimenting me on it. Here's the recipe:

turkey giblets and neck - put in a large stock pot with a lot of water, some salt & pepper, and bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until the giblets are cooked. Then dice up the giblets (liver, heart, gizzard) into 1/4" or so pieces.
2-3 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
1 stick of butter
palm full each of salt and pepper
2-3 eggs
1+ loaf of bread - this year I used a loaf of honey wheat bread and about half a dozen leftover dinner rolls, but I usually use 1-1/2 loaves of bread
5-10 sage leaves, chopped - I know that's a wide number range, but it depends on how "sage-y" you like your dressing and how big the leaves are

In a large bowl (I used the crock out of my crockpot), tear up the bread into bite-sized pieces.

In the meantime, melt the butter in skillet. Add the onion and celery and saute until translucent. When cooked, pour into the bread.

Add the rest of the ingredients (you might beat the eggs before you add them so they mix more evenly), and then ladle in some of the turkey stock until everything is gooey. (I know, that term doesn't sound very appetizing, but you want it to be really moist or it will dry out!)

We always cook our stuffing in the bird. Make sure to put it in both ends of the bird! If there's any leftover stuffing that won't fit in the bird, you can refrigerate it in a baking dish, and then bake it after you pull the turkey out of the oven. Probably about 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes.

Read the directions on your turkey, but usually you cook a turkey for 20 minutes per pound, plus an extra hour if it is stuffed.

I meant to photograph the turkey after pulling it out of the oven, but forgot. We were hungry.So here's a photo of the lunch I brought to work on Friday:
Clockwise from the top left: mashed potatoes with gravy, corn casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, turkey, green bean casserole and stuffing. Yum. I should make freezer meals like Marie Calendar.


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