But, this year, we are on the other side of the country from our families and I don't have a job that will fire me for not coming on Black Friday, so we got to have Thanksgiving! Out here there are several people that we actually know from our hometown--we always find this truth odd, since we currently live in the middle of nowhere--and we all got together to great a potluck dinner last night.
Although we had a full dinner and much more food than we needed, I only made the turkey, stuffing, and cranberry/apple mold (thanks for the recipe, Family Circle). I was very nervous about the turkey, since I had never made one, and despite it taking 1.5 hrs longer than it was supposed to, it tasted absolutely delicious and I wouldn't change a thing if/when I do it again!
I decided to stuff it with celery, carrots, an onion, and sage leaves just to keep it moist and flavorful. I have read that actually stuffing a turkey with stuffing is no longer considered good practice due to some bacteria that tends to grow between the stuffing and the turkey, so I decided against that.
I used a mixture of honey, butter, and dried herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary) to baste with, and took it out of the oven (where it was covered in foil) about every 45 minutes to rebaste. It took about 6.5 hours to fully cook, but it was great!
And I went cheap for the stuffing..stove top, approx. 10 minutes total to fix. Best idea ever.
So, our first Thanksgiving was a total success!
Hope everyone else had a great one too!
