If you'll recall, in "You Know It's Love When..." I explained that I had decided not to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year; because in Thanksgiving's past, I was the only one in our family who had any interest in the traditional fare. Well, while we were at Thanksgiving dinner; Luis and the kids actually consumed quite a bit of food that is typically associated with Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey; which they previously had shown no interest in. So, being the kinda wife and mom that I am; I suggested that I would buy a turkey breast during my Sunday grocery shopping and make it with a couple of side dishes for dinner one night. Everyone seemed to like this idea; so I added all of the necessities to my grocery list.
Well, on Sunday I went to Sam's Club after the gym, and they had whole turkeys on sale. I figured that I could just make a whole turkey since the prices were so good; and I looked for the smallest one that I could find. I thought that an 18lb turkey for $12.50 was a really good deal; so I started to defrost it, and I planned to make it for dinner on Monday.
While the kids and I were having lunch yesterday, we were watching a DVR'd episode of "Diners, Drive-In's and Dives," and Guy was showcasing Thanksgiving foods. One chef had used an oven bag to cook his turkey; and since I'm a BIG fan of the oven bag (I use one to make pot roast, and sometimes brisket;) I thought this was the way to go. I searched my cabinets, because I remembered that one time I meant to buy large oven bags and I'd bought the turkey size by mistake, and I was pretty sure that I still had them in the house; and I did. I set the bags some place that I would remember them; and I felt content that I had a great plan to make my "little" Thanksgiving dinner on Monday.
I tried to plan everything just right. I took my lunch break late in the afternoon today, so that I could use my time to prepare the turkey. I don't think that I'd say that this was a big mistake; however, I felt extremely rushed; and that wasn't very comfortable for me. I would have to estimate that at least two or three times during the course of the turkey preparation I uttered out loud, "What was I thinking," as I raced the clock to get the bird cleaned, dried, seasoned, into the bag and then into the oven; but alas, I DID IT; with time to spare.
It wasn't long before my house had that wonderful roast turkey smell; and since it's particularly cold in Phoenix right now (about 52 degrees today, and we're expected to be around 36 tonight;) the warmth from the oven was delightful.
I picked up the kids from school, finished working for the day, filled out some paper work for Luis' doctor's appointment tomorrow; then went to Safeway to buy mushrooms for my stuffing and sour cream for the mashed potatoes. As soon as I got home, I began preparing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and stuffing. What was that I'd said about making them a couple of sides? Well, I guess if I was going to do it; I was going to DO IT! Go big or go home; right??
When Luis and Nicky got home from Nicky's soccer practice; Luis commented that the house smelled sensational (OK, maybe sensational wasn't his exact word; but I just love the alliteration.) Nonetheless, he paid me some compliment, and it made all my hard work worth it. We all ate our not-so-typical Monday night dinner; and although it was lovely to have; I definitely thought to myself; "I need a rest!"
I KNOW from experience how much hard work preparing a Thanksgiving dinner is; so why I thought that I could attempt it on a work day, during a week night; I have no idea. I think that it is very safe to say that when it comes to preparing a whole turkey and all of it's accompaniments; one should venture to do so when you have an entire day free and then a day to rest to follow.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING
1 comment:
Yes! Better late than never, I guess!!
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