Grandma Ellen

Grandma Ellen

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Thanksgiving

My plate (don't like cranberry sauce)

This year my family took the huge risk of letting me cook the Thanksgiving feast. Our huge family of three. It actually turned out fabulous. The night before I made a cheesecake. It was the first time I had ever used a spring form pan, and it was pretty easy. I just used the Better Homes and Gardens recipe. And, remembering one of my cousin's desserts, I planned to make a caramel drizzle for serving.

It's a little cracked just like me!

I researched how to cook the turkey like the true Capricorn that I am. I decided to cook it at 325 degrees for three hours. It was a 10 lb turkey. After reading all of the suggestions online how people cook them and their tricks of the trade, I decided to cook it breast down for the first half in the deep roasting pan I had. I decided not to cover it through the whole process and I brushed it with butter and sprinkled salt and pepper on it. I basted it ever half hour. After an hour and a half, I flipped it over to breast side up. After cooking for three hours, I checked the internal temp and what do you know, 160, perfect. I took it out and let it rest twenty minutes.

Isn't it the most beautiful turkey ever?
 
My favorite thing that I made was the mashed potatoes. Believe it or not, I have never made mashed potatoes from scratch. I have been an instant kind of girl. My mom tends to make mashed potatoes that are whipped. I’m not the biggest fan of the whipped kind. I, again, researched how different people make them on the Internet and decided to make a recipe all my own. I took bits from a bunch of different people. I started with russet potatoes and peeled them. I cut them into thirds and put them in cold water. I then put them on the stove and boiled them til the fork glided into them easily. Next, I drained the water and put them back in the pan on the stove on low. This is when I mashed with a hand masher. Then I added a stick of butter. Then, I was supposed to add heavy cream but I didn’t know I was out, so I used half & half instead. And they were DELICIOUS! No lumps!
Sideways Mashed Potatoes
Hey, did you know that stuffing from a box is incredibly easy and only takes five minutes? Neither did I! I didn't get a proper pic of it but it was really good. Obviously I didn't cook it in the bird. I also forgot to take a picture of the finished drizzled cheesecake. But it was GORGEOUS! As mentioned above, I don't like cranberry sauce. My mom is a big fan so I bought it from the local deli made with real cranberries! And there was gravy, oh yes, delicious gravy, I made it.

My mother was ecstatic with the whole thing. My father, who has a Clint Eastwood appearance and demeanor, told me "it was very good" which is the equivalent of "open a restaurant and and sell this shit!" but he is also never afraid to criticize, so he told me the gravy could have been hotter, and then he ate all of the leftover cheesecake in three days.

There was only one thing that surprised me. I hate turkey. Even when I make it. But theres a reason for it and I'll let you in on it some other time.

No comments:

Post a Comment