Saturday, November 20, 2010

Thanksgiving Plans

Do you have big plans for turkey day? We usually invite friends and church members over that don't have other plans.  I will admit that I love cooking for this holiday. I'm not going to lie. I find it fun and challenging.  Am I crazy? Maybe that is why we don't go anywhere for the holidays. 

 I'll let you in on another secret. Turkeys are dirt cheap right now, so I stock up. You don't have to eat turkey only at Thanksgiving or Christmas. Since we have a large family, by today's standards,  I am always trying to make dinners for dirt cheap. You can't beat feeding a family of eight with a 12 lb turkey for $5, right? While I love trying new recipes, if I find something that works extremely well, I stick with it. I've been making turkeys now for a few years and once I discovered what brining a turkey was I've never turned back. Now the first time I brined my turkey it was last minute thing that I kind threw together. It was great, but a lot of work. The next year I found a brine mix from World Market. I've used this mix every year since. This year when it went on sale, I stocked up. I've only been able to find this mix around Thanksgiving, so I bought 4 of them. HERE is a link to how this brine works and how I cook my turkey.

Once you prepare your brine, soak your turkey for about 24 hours in the the brine.
Butter is my best friend! I mix herbs with melted butter and slather it all over the turkey and voila!

Besides turkey, what other sides are you planning to make? 
Pineapple Cranberry Relish has become something I make every year now. I've never been a big fan of the canned jelly cranberry sauce, so when I found this recipe I just kept making it. It give a great tang to the turkey and it's even better the next day on a sandwich. Try it out.
I haven't gotten my whole menu put together, but here are some recipes you might be interested in trying for your meal:
Share with me some of your recipes and maybe I'll make it and post it on here!

7 comments:

Lauren said...

I'm officially hungry now. Also, may I please come out for Thanksgiving. Never mind that my family is coming here. I'll leave some food for them. We'll be out in a few days, m'kay?

Unknown said...

Yes! Please come!

Unknown said...

Do you make a stuffing? If so, how do you do it?

Unknown said...

I don't stuff the turkey. I've never put anything inside the turkey. I haven't decided what I am doing for stuffing this year. Could just be stove top? Depends on time. Food network has a lot of good recipes.

Bree Soncrant said...

Thanks for the instructions:) I had my husband pick up a roasting bag and a brine kit from the place we buy our turkey and it was SO good. Everyone talked about how juicy the meat was.
We were a little nervous about it, but now plan on doing it every year!
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving:)

Unknown said...

Bree, I am so glad to hear about your turkey! Yay!

Unknown said...

Bree, I am so glad to hear about your turkey! Yay!