On November 10th, 2018, I made a turkey with my friend Kayla for our Friendsgiving using her mom’s recipe for preparing the bird and the gravy. It should be noted that neither Kayla or I had prepared a Thanksgiving turkey before. *cringes* Although everything turned out pretty well, we came across some bumps in the road that others could learn from.
We bought the turkey a couple nights before which was not nearly enough time to thaw the bird in the refrigerator so we thawed it in the sink the day before. We started around 3 PM, which was our first mistake cause the turkey wasn’t carved until 9 PM or so. We also almost couldn’t find the bag of giblets until I looked into the top end of the turkey. I’m very glad we did as a melted plastic bag of organs would’ve put a damper on things.
The first thing to do to prepare the bird was, of course, wash it off with water. We basically rubbed butter into every nook and cranny after that. Then we seasoned with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. We filled the cavity of the bird with onions and celery for flavor (someone else was taking care of the stuffing separately). We decided to forgo tying the legs together as we forgot to buy twine. After tucking the bird’s wings under itself in a disposable roasting pan, we started cooking the bird at 375 degrees Fahrenheit and cooked it for about 5 hours, basting every half hour.
We were going to just use the “pop up thermometer” that came with the turkey but… that didn’t end up working out. I actually had to run to the nearest Walmart when it was close to the directed finishing time to get an actual thermometer! When the turkey finally finished cooking, we made the gravy from the drippings. This provided time for the turkey to rest for a half hour before carving it.
Then, before we knew it, we were all done! It finished cooking a tad later than expected, however, it still got done and that’s all that mattered to me. About 18 of my close friends and I gathered around a couple tables in my living room with the fireplace video on Netflix playing in the background. We briefly paused to take a couple pictures before promptly feasting on turkey, apple pie moonshine, stuffing, and other food people brought. I guess the main lesson I took away from this experience was to start AT LEAST an hour ahead of how much time you think you need. I’m just glad I have great (and patient) friends who didn’t mind waiting a little to eat.