Happy Turkey Day to all you turkeys

[clinthopson]

May I be the first to wish you all a great Thanksgiving with all the trimmins.

For our little family, I'm making brined turkey; corn bread, wild rice and Itralian sausage dressing; chayote casserole (with chiles), cranberry sauce with Grand Mariner; Waldorf salad of apples, celery, roasted pecans and diced fuyu persimmons and hommade mayo dressing; desert is punkin pie, even though I don;t like it very much - Donna does. And the appropriate wines = 2000 Rhones for the red drinkers and 2002 Deerfield Ranch Sauvignon Blanc for the whities. Our daughter is bringing a potato casserole from Pascal, a fancy Froggy restaurant.

Eat hearty!

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Hey, Clint, I'll pick up the pecan pie on the way over..........

[GoodSpeak]

What time's dinner?


Happy Thanksgiving to youse guys, too.


BBQ-ing the bird again this year...yum

[clinthopson]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Cantiello

Hey, Clint, I'll pick up the pecan pie on the way over..........

A helluva lot better cherce than punkin.

But you understand about She Who Must Be Obeyed.

[jesus marion joseph]

Brining the turkey makes a world of difference in the finished product.

[Uli]

[Chris D]

We brined for the first time last year. Best. Moistest. Turkey. Ever.

Clint, don't forget the Durkee onions on the casserole.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Originally Posted by jesus marion joseph

Brining the turkey makes a world of difference in the finished product.

Yep, I've also heard that brining chicken parts that are going to be used for fried chicken makes a big difference as well............

[clinthopson]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Cantiello

Yep, I've also heard that brining chicken parts that are going to be used for fried chicken makes a big difference as well............

For the best fried chicken, soak the parts overnight in buttermilk and tabasco

[sonic1]

Wow clinty, you really wanted to be the first, indeed.

But happy fuckin meat devouring day. I am dying for a huge turkey leg!


And if the gods are good to me, sometime soon I will be lucky enough to go back to heaven: the taste of deep fried turkey entertaining my taste buds...

[Monte Smith]

Happy Thanksgiving. I'll be headed over to my folks for the first Smith family thanksgiving I've enjoyed at the old house for a good long while. Will be bringing the wife and the lad, who is just the size to try the mashed yams. Yum yum.

Some of you might have received this popular email. In my opinion, the author erred in leaving out the word "turducken:"

Things that sound dirty at Thanksgiving, but aren't.

Whew, that's one terrific spread!
I'm in the mood for a little dark meat.
Tying the legs together keeps the inside moist.
Talk about a huge breast!
It's Cool Whip time!
If I don't undo my pants, I'll burst!
Are you ready for seconds yet?
Are you going to come again next time?
It's a little dry, do you still want to eat it?
Just wait your turn, you'll get some!
Don't play with your meat.
Just spread the legs open & stuff it in.
Do you think you'll be able to handle all these people at once?
I didn't expect everyone to come at once!
You still have a little bit on your chin.
Use a nice smooth stroke when you whip it.
How long will it take after you stick it in?
You'll know it's ready when it pops up.
Wow, I didn't think I could handle all of that!
How many are coming?
That's the biggest one I've ever seen!
Just lay back & take it easy...I'll do the rest.
How long do I beat it before it's ready?

[Bluebrew]

The turkey is a "fowl" bird. This year -baked ham.

[GoodSpeak]

Fowl bird...?



Um.




Isn't that the same thing?

[cookie]

Happy Thanksgiving, Clint! I hope it's the best ever, man.

[Gary Sisco]

I'm with Uli's post. All for that! (Is that a pic of you, Uli?)

To tell the truth, while I have much to be thankful for, I've been desperately trying to get out of xgiving this year. Last year, it came three days after my old man died, and a sadder, more uncomfortable event I haven't had in my personal life than that dinner, at my sister's. I don't know if I'll ever do that again, the absence was so large. So, this year, I tried a preemptive strike because I have to do the horsework anyway, xgiving or no, by telling my old mum that I'd not be able to make the family gig but that I'd take her out for dinner that evening. Phew. Or so I thought.

All of the local restaurants are closed, as it turns out. Shit. Now she's talking cooking a turkey and bringing it here to our house, along with the father of my sister's kids, who I wasn't all that fond of even when we were bros-in-law. I don't dislike him. He's just awfully dull company. Says about twelve words a day, none of them interesting. My favorite thing about him is that he buys a 12-pack of Bud every day but only drinks eleven of them -- I guess so he can say he doesn't drink twelve, I don't know. (My sister has peculiar taste in men, I have to say. Always has.) Anyway, that's exactly what we'd not like to have happen, as we've been looking forward to a couple of days of having the place to ourselves, which is a very rare event, for which we're thankful indeed when it comes around.

So, I'll be on the phone later trying to locate someplace with acceptable food that'll be open for dinner Thursday evening and my ex-bro-in-law will have to fend for himself.

[Steve Reynolds]

cooking the pre Thanksgiving Turkey today

will try the brining next year - but I do have other methods of keeping my birds moist

[Pete C]

I'll be doing my traditional Thanksgiving in Chinatown. I'll be ordering for 10 at Ping's.

[tippy]

gobble gobble

[crawjo]

I'll be having Thanksgiving in D.C. with my Aunt and Uncle this year. I find that despite being vegetarian I look forward to Thanksgiving just as much as I used to; my favorite parts of the meal were always the sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin/apple pie anyway.

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Steve Reynolds

but I do have other methods of keeping my birds moist

Ewwww.....

[crawjo]

With my family we have a tradition of going around the table prior to the meal and saying what we are most thankful for during the past year. Playing off this theme, yesterday I was putting together a post that would have given individual reasons why I'm thankful that the folks who hang out at JC do so. My ambition was to write something about everybody over 1,000 posts, but I hadn't gotten further down than 3,000 before my brain became really tired. There's a lot of us here, and I didn't want to seem like I was leaving people out. So anyway, the general point of what I'm trying to say is that, despite our disagreements, I'm thankful that each one of you folks is here: you all bring a different dish to the table, so to speak, and make JC a better place through your presence.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Steve Reynolds]

don't be disgusted, crawjo - it is a citrus based method

[Steve Reynolds]

and it's ready in about an hour.....

18 pounds of bird....yum yum

[vibes]

Mrs. vibes and I will be spending Thanksgiving with my brother and his family in Iowa City, IA this year. It will be our first Thanksgiving away from home since we got married, and also my first Thanksgiving four-day weekend away from the office. Since I work in retail, I haven't been able to do this in the past. I will visit our store in Iowa City on Black Friday, however, to see how things are going. Should be fun.

[Gary Sisco]

Switched gears and will be bringing my mom, my uncle (father's brother) and his wife out on *Wednesday* night.

Phew. Sigh of relief. I'm not really a humbug guy on xgivings, but going to my sister's is like going to someone else's family's place on xgiving, with people she and her boyfriend know, but I don't.

Anyway, we'll have the joint to ourselves, something we're always thankful for, whatever month or day.

[Gentle Giant]

Thanksgiving had long been my favorite holiday. It was my late mother's day to shine; she made everything, and perfectly, for a large crowd. Over the years, the numbers dwindled as other branches of the family wanted to do their own. Then my mom got sick and couldn't cook. Then I got married and had to split the holiday between Boston and Cleveland on alternating years. Today, it's not what it once was, but I'm still grateful for the chance to recognize and give thanks for my blessings. And I always dig that it was my main man Abraham Lincoln who made Thanksgiving a national holiday. And it's a good excuse to listen to Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant."

So, we're flying off to Cleveland at 5:45pm today for the holiday, and I'll probably be off-board for most of the rest of the week. Further bummer on my wife's side as a relative who just became a grandmother for the second time is dying from a heart condition. But to all of you, who collectively are one thing I am thankful for, have a good holiday.

[Ron Thorne]

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with our daughter, son-in-law and two oldest grandchildren who live in Anchorage. I'll be cooking an 8 lb. turkey breast, herbed pecan stuffing and fresh cranberry compote, Patti will make two of her famous pumpkin pies, loved even by pumpkin pie haters. Our daughter is making the traditional green bean/Durkee onion casserole, poppy seed/onion rolls and a sweet potato dish. Most (except for me) will enjoy hot spiced tea for most of the day. I'll probably have a beer or some wine.

Question: I've never brined a turkey before and plan to do it this year. I'd be appreciative of a tried-and-true recipe. What I don't want to do is impart too much auxillary flavor to the turkey breast so it no longer tastes like "Thanksgiving turkey". I was thinking about simply using water, kosher salt, sugar, black peppercorns, thyme, a little sage, and some orange juice. I've also noted that brining time is greatly reduced when working with a turkey breast rather than a complete bird. I'm thinking four hours chilled for an 8 lb. breast. Does that sound about right?

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

A place will be set for SinginSumo this year.

[clinthopson]

Ron, I use 1/2 cup of kosher salt for every 2 quarts of water, the same amount of sugar. Brine for 1 hour for every lb of turkey. I've found that adding spices, juice, etc. do do nuttin'.

Then I season the bird with whatever - pepper, garlic, cayenne, dried herbs, etc. No salt, naturally.

Brining causes, through osmosis, for the brine to replace the bird juices, plus adding moisture. I use it for turkeys, chickens and pork.

BTW, if you are barbequing the bird, don't use the sugar, it will cause a bit of burning.

[Ron Thorne]

Thanks, Clint. I'm baking the breast, which is bone-in with skin. I'll add some herbs, etc. after brining, based on your remarks.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's, as always, and I'm very grateful that they're still healthy in their 80s. I'm glad my kids have had them as grandparents growing up! We'll be joined by my brother and sister and their families, thirteen of us.

I haven't hadn't a night without a dance since Labor Day Weekend, and starting Wednesday I have four nights off in a row! Cool! I've planned dates with my wife, daughter and son for the three non-Thanksgiving nights off. And I will take a couple of l-o-n-g runs, and I'll play a set or two of tennis with my daughter (6-3 hers, last time) -- it's beautiful weather here: 65, blues skies!