Fridays are Golden

"Best turkey I ever ate," said my husband.  And these words cannot be taken lightly since there are few people on our planet who love turkey more than he does.  Several readers were interested in the outcome of my first brined turkey.  By his statement you already know that my husband thought it was most delicious.

He has a wonderfully short memory of the Desi/Lucy circumstances the day before.  Typical for us, we had a few miss-steps along the way.  The first thing I did was to allow my husband to order and pick up the turkey.  Remember I told you how much he loves turkey.  He came home with a sixteen-pound bird.  For the two of us.

It all started out so well.  I made the brine and then put the turkey inside a special brining bag.  I got out the roasting pan.  I'm usually a very perceptive person, but it never once occurred to me that the turkey/brine-filled bag would not exactly fit in the roasting pan.  So I'm standing there with six inches of fluid hanging over all sides of the roaster.  Fearing that the bag might break, I called my husband to help.  "Get out the pasta pot,"  I said, "we can't use the roaster because it isn't deep enough to hold it all."  (I don't know if it's really a pasta pot, but it's that large pot you use to make tons of soup or to boil pasta.)  Just a quick eyeballing of the pot next to the now mammoth bag informed us the turkey was not going to fit.  And that is the biggest deep pot we have.  What to do?  In order to shorten this episode, I will tell you that we finally found success with a utility pail.

The pail has never been used except to hold the instructions and supplies needed to de-skunk dogs.  For many reasons I was glad we had not needed to use any.  So we decided that we would put the turkey in the pail.  Now, we did not come to his conclusion quickly.  We took turns holding the bag that was overflowing the sides of the roaster.  I would go through the house trying to find something useful.  Then I would come back to turkey sentry duty while my husband searched for something useful.  I'm not sure which one of us finally came up with the utility pail.  We both thought it weird putting the Thanksgiving turkey in a utility pail.  But, we reasoned, it was clean and had not been used.  So we took out the peroxide, soap, and other de-skunking supplies and washed the pail.  Regardless of our feelings about the pail, we had no other options.

We plopped the brining bag filled with solution and turkey into the clean 12-liter (3.17 gallon) pail.  Perfect!  Then we looked at each other and laughed.  We both said it at the same time. "How are we going to get this thing in the fridge?"  After removing and re-arranging some shelves, we put the pail in the fridge and were actually able to close the door.

The Golden Girls were quite confused despite the fact that they are familiar with our Desi/Lucy predicaments.  They didn't know whether to stay by the one guarding the turkey or to run up and down the stairs with the one trying to find a suitable receptacle.  They were quite happy when the turkey was finally in the fridge and the kitchen was back to normal.

The Thanksgiving Bird in a Bucket.

I've already told you my husband's reaction to the finished product.  As for me?  We always have a fresh turkey and I always put herbed butter between the skin and the meat.  So our turkeys are always quite moist and tender.  I have to admit that this one was more tender and wonderfully flavorful.  But I have to wonder just how tender the turkey needs to be.  Isn't a nine almost as good as a ten?

Will we do it again?  ABSOLUTELY!  After we went through that big learning curve, we aren't about to make this a one-shot deal.  Truthfully, we will purchase all the supplies we need.  The next time won't be nearly as funny, but will run quite smoothly.  Like so many other things, once you know how it is easy.  I hope.

You no doubt came to this post to see the Golden Girls.  They did not get any special treatment on Thanksgiving Day.  No turkey, no dressing, no gravy or potatoes.  Just the constant attention to which they feel entitled.

 You can't blame tryptophan for this nap.

 Lucy still using Ellie for a pillow.

 And two dogs stretched out on one bed.

I do hope Thanksgiving Day went smoothly for everyone.  And that you have leftovers to enjoy.  The weather here has been perfect these past few days and now we are looking forward to the Christmas season.  Which will be here about the time we finish eating the rest of the turkey.

Our quote today comes from John Fitzgerald Kennedy:

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!