Thursday, November 26, 2009

Making the Turkey-Part 1

So, Around 9 AM, I started dicing the carrots, onions, celery & mushrooms. I sauteed them in a stick & half of butter. I had to do it in two parts because it wouldn't all fit in the skillet. I did not saute the carrots but I did dice them up pretty small.
By 10AM, I decided to toast up some bread heels I had accumulated and added them to the mix.I had purchased the Bells New England Style Stuffing mix to stuff a 20 pound turkey. When I emptied the contents I realized there were cranberries in it (Ewwww!)so I plucked most of them out of the mixture. I also threw in a box of stove top stuffing (that should have been used by last July). I finished combining it all by10:20 and put it aside.
10:30-SNAG- Turkey wasn't completely thawed. I had started the thaw process early Tuesday morning so it could be done in time. Apparently , that wasn't enough time. What to do ? I had to call somebody that knew how to cook & didn't have kids . My friend Sue is a really good cook, so I took a chance. She was home and said to bathe it in cold water, changing the water every 20 minutes or so. Should be ready in about an hour. Actually, she told me to just put it in the sink , but I didn't have time to clean the sink, so I just put the roasting pan and all into the sink and kept running the cold water every 20 minutes.
By 11:10, it was thawed enough to remove the neck.
By 11:30 Bird was thawed enough to stuff. I stuffed the stuffing loosely and massaged the bird with butter. As a result of a conversation I had with a co-worker and because it sounded like a good idea, I put a can of chicken stock in the bottom the roasting pan. My idea is that it will keep the bird moist. Time will tell ! I loosely covered it with tin foil and by 11:35 it was in the oven.
11:45 I put the loaf pan of stuffing into the oven.
12:30 Stuffing loaf was done.Surprisingly delicious !
That's how my day has gone so far. After this posts, I will go down and baste the turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who is around to follow this !

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