I’ve learned one thing about myself this Thanksgiving – I don’t handle obstacles well, especially when it comes to food.
I had a plan this year. It involved a raw turkey and lots of butter. But when we went to pick up the bird, it was partially cooked. This was not a good thing. Not because Chef was going to cook a bad bird, but because all of my plans and timelines were now thrown out the window.
But I persevered. I decided that I would treat this as a boon. Less cooking, less stress! I now only had to focus on the sides. Chef said about a hour and a half at 350 would bring the centerpiece to perfection.
I trusted in thermodynamics which almost led to my downfall.
The oven was turned on at 1, in time for Thanksgiving dinner at about 3:30. But when is was 2:15 and the temperature of the damn bird had not raised a single degree, I was beginning to stress, JUST a little bit. I was 2 minutes from a holiday meltdown when our first guests arrived. I pulled it together and turned around to see the thermometer click over a new temperature. Success!!
Dinner was over an hour late, but what a feast it was. We had a 20 pound turkey for six of us and sides to feed about twelve. The best part was a great evening with friends.

After the main course was done, it was a good thirty minutes before any of us could even think about eating or drinking anything else.
But somehow we managed to make a serious dent in chocolate roulade, cherry pie, coconut bars and cornflake cookies. I only broke two plates, the first of the wedding gifts to get broken in over five years.
Hopefully next year you can make it too!






