Happy "Woah! that's a lot of dirty dishes" Day!

I don't usually post about food but being that it's Thanksgiving, and the first one my husband and I spent on our own away from family, I was both nervous and excited to do a full meal on my own.

I tried to plan accordingly. Didn't want to go overboard because this is the first time I've even roasted anything so I wanted to take it easy on myself. We stuck to the basics-- Oven Roasted Turkey (10 lb), Mashed Potatoes, String Beans, and home made pumpkin pie (everything was from scratch, including the flaky crust). This post is picture heavy but I hope you guys enjoy the process, and the laughable mistakes I made along the way.

First let me say that we had a craaaa-zy snowy past couple of days. I live in the Pacific Northwest, just south of Seattle, and most of the roads were frozen. Check out this high-la-rious YouTube video: clickme!

I started the 'seasoning' process on Tuesday afternoon. I used Parsley, Cilantro, Poultry Seasoning, Oregano, Sage, Onions, Celery, Garlic, Vinegar and about 1 tbsp of Adobo and mixed in a food processor:

I rubbed it all over the turkey, inside and out (after removing the giblets and rinsing it with water, of course), then covered it and placed it in the fridge until the next day.

On Wednesday evening, I took the Turkey out of the fridge and rinsed it completely of all the seasoning, towel patted dry and placed it in a roaster, breast side down, with lid filled with a cooled brine (water, sugar, salt, carrots, celery, parsley). I allowed it to soak for 8 hours and removed it, rinsed again with cool water and patted dry. I left the turkey out for two hours before I proceeded to prep for the roast.

^That sounds overwhelming. I hope you guys are following me LOL.

Next step was where I fucked up royally. No, seriously, I screwed this up so bad that all I could do was laugh after the fact. I made a mixture of butter and white wine on the stove and soaked a cheese cloth in it. The reason I messed up was because I was only supposed to use 1/2 cup of white wine. Instead I used a full bottle! I'm an idiot and my house smelled like booze LOL

Once I stuffed the turkey with cooked and cooled stuffing, I tied the legs together using cotton string and rubbed room temperature butter over the whole thing. Proceeded to sprinkle with some salt and pepper and placed the soaked cheese cloth over it.

Then I put Anthony (yes, I named it) in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes then reduced to 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. I would use the remaining wine/butter mixture to soak the cheese cloth every 30 minutes. 

Once the 2 1/2 hours were up, I took Anthony out, removed the cheesecloth and soaked again with the wine/butter mixture. Checked the internal temperature for the stuffing and thigh which indicated that I should probably cook for another 45 minutes or so.

During those 45 minutes I scrambled to make the mashed potatoes and everything else all the while having a Skype date with my love Em.

Anyway, I won't bore you guys with excessive writing for much longer but needless to say I was impressed with the outcome. The damn turkey didn't taste like booze. It was moist, flavorful and I don't even eat my own cooking. I really enjoyed this. Now I'll just eye rape you with some more pictures:

Finished Turkey

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Probably the fluffiest mashed potatoes I've made in a long time. Also, home made gravy

Stuffing as pulled out of Anthony

Home made pumpkin pie with flaky crust.

My husband was also impressed and said it was probably the best turkey he's ever had. What a cutie pie. I'm sure he was yanking my chains but it worked. I am certainly proud of myself and flattered lol. Even our pup got in on the fun!

I took a simple serving because I didn't want to get sleepy.

Then I cleaned Anthony down to the bone so we had plenty of left overs

BOOM!

Hope you guys will forgive me for having this post be all over the place. I'm not very good at this stuff. Oh! And here are some pics of the table. Since it's just the two of us, I kept it simple:

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. This is probably the happiest I've ever been in my life. I'm living somewhere with the love of my life, our dog and I look/feel the best I've ever felt. 2010 has been a wonderful year. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

xoxo-

J

Sweet Nothings

I'm a movie junkie and if you trust me, you'll be exposed to only the best.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams play a married couple in Blue Valentine who became immediately infatuated with one another. Now, years later, their relationship is disintegrating. I know this movie will be amazing and I expect Academy Award nominations for this film.

Back at home

Aaah, NYC. How I loathe thee, let me count the ways. Ah yeah right., who am I kidding?

Having been raised in NYC, it's easy to hate the place. Too many tourists. Over crowded subways. Unbearable summers and horrible winters. It's easy to forget what makes New York so great.

I've just been reminded. "You don't know what you got til it's gone." I love my life now but damn I miss me some new yawk every now and then, that's for sure. Check out the 50 reasons why some love the place here:  LoveNYC

24 hour diners, pizza and chinese food that you can't find anywhere else, $1 coquitos, $20 Wash & Set and laying out at Central Park are just some of the reasons I miss home.