Thanksgiving tips, recipes and help!

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Yep! I've cooked one. Maybe veganism isn't much of a thing in New Mexico. It is big in Colorado.

I cooked one, but I have never eaten one. I do not do soy anything. I avoid soy as much as possible.

I live among ranchers and hunters. Meat is always on the menu.
 
We're going to fry our turkey. Thawed turkey, dry skin and turn off the flame while adding the bird. No problem.

Oh c'mon, where's your sense of adventure? :p
 
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Written years ago by my daughter, we always laugh about it at this time of the year...

The 2 turkeys "Christmas" and "Thanksgiving":

Now my mother, being an intelligent woman, decided to get 2 turkeys and name them "Thanksgiving" and "Christmas" for the day they would be eaten. She , of course, pampered these critters, calling them by name, petting and coddling them, feeding them to make them fat and whistle to make them run to her. Well....2 males in the same yard? Um , no. So showing his prowness, around November, 'Thanksgiving' killed 'Christmas'. Which meant we had to eat him for Thanksgiving, which for the other turkey, meant a reprieve. Only I (Debra) had to pluck the dead bird...not having any idea what I was doing, nor have I EVER plucked a bird. How hard could it be?
Oh...let me count the ways! First, I had no trouble with the smaller feathers, as they easily came out with a yank. But on the bigger feathers, I had to use a pair of pliers ....it was awful! Secondly, did you know there was stuff that leaked out the end of feathers?? GROSS! Especially for a teenager.
Needless to say, I will never have a 'traditional' Thanksgiving...From now on, I will buy turkey de-feathered and ready to cook.... Oh I forgot the rest of the story!....I bet you were asking yourself, "What ever happened to "Thanksgiving"? My mother became too attached to him to eat him, so ...he became a pet, and later on, she gave him to a friend so he could live out his days with other females..
 
Written years ago by my daughter, we always laugh about it at this time of the year...

The 2 turkeys "Christmas" and "Thanksgiving":

Now my mother, being an intelligent woman, decided to get 2 turkeys and name them "Thanksgiving" and "Christmas" for the day they would be eaten. She , of course, pampered these critters, calling them by name, petting and coddling them, feeding them to make them fat and whistle to make them run to her. Well....2 males in the same yard? Um , no. So showing his prowness, around November, 'Thanksgiving' killed 'Christmas'. Which meant we had to eat him for Thanksgiving, which for the other turkey, meant a reprieve. Only I (Debra) had to pluck the dead bird...not having any idea what I was doing, nor have I EVER plucked a bird. How hard could it be?
Oh...let me count the ways! First, I had no trouble with the smaller feathers, as they easily came out with a yank. But on the bigger feathers, I had to use a pair of pliers ....it was awful! Secondly, did you know there was stuff that leaked out the end of feathers?? GROSS! Especially for a teenager.
Needless to say, I will never have a 'traditional' Thanksgiving...From now on, I will buy turkey de-feathered and ready to cook.... Oh I forgot the rest of the story!....I bet you were asking yourself, "What ever happened to "Thanksgiving"? My mother became too attached to him to eat him, so ...he became a pet, and later on, she gave him to a friend so he could live out his days with other females..
That is a great story, GrannyG!
My grandmother used to raise a couple dozen turkeys out on the ranch. There was never running water and they had a very small house, so butchering them was not done at home. They loaded them up, took them to the big town 50 miles away and they were sold to the butcher who had running water and space to butcher them.
 
You do need pliers to get some of the wing feathers out. Noticed the grandkids (who did the plucking on 4 turkeys this year) got lazy, and cut off part of the wing with the hatchet. I don't mind.

Those wing feathers will kill your hands. Pliers are much easier. The tail feathers are just as bad but I just started cutting the tail off with the feathers. Told hubby we should have bought the larger plucker!
 
We have been looking those Char-Broil Infrared Oil-Less Turkey Fryers. Supposed to be just as delicious without the oil (or the potential hazards). You can also use them to make other things like ham, roasts, etc. Anyone have any experience with one?


turkey.jpg

 
We have been looking those Char-Broil Infrared Oil-Less Turkey Fryers. Supposed to be just as delicious without the oil (or the potential hazards). You can also use them to make other things like ham, roasts, etc. Anyone have any experience with one?


View attachment 30143

Nope. Mines old-fashioned and requires oil.

41l1fvKhO9L._AC_SY400_.jpg
 
There is a man in my area who is offering to fry turkeys for people, $3 a pound. A twenty pound bird, $60! Yikes! He is not doing our turkey, but if he fries up a few turkeys, he is going to have a pretty good day.
 
Granny Lois's Cornbread Dressing Recipe

Granny Lois was one of the best cooks in town. Everyone loved this recipe and she always made it for the church suppers. Everytime we talk about this recipe we laugh. The first time my daughter Karen made this, she did not know you had to bake the cornbread first, so you can imagine the mess she ended up with...we laugh every Thanksgiving over Karen's special dressing. Granny Lois wrote the recipe down for me before she passed away, but her writing was so hard to read, age had made her hands tremble and shake, but luckily, Karen still had the recipe written in younger days, so it is with joy that I share her wonderful recipe. Eat and enjoy !

Granny Lois's Cornbread Dressing

4 pkgs. corn bread...bake it first....
8 slices of white bread
8 boiled eggs,chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
3 cans of cream of chicken
1 can of cream of celery
1 boiled chicken,skin removed, cut into bite size pieces
sage
poultry seasoning
pepper
curry powder
1/2 cup cooking oil
save broth from whole chicken

prepare cornbread, crumble into foil pan.
crumble bread. add chopped up eggs,onions,bell pepper, celery and

cooking oil.
2 cans of cream of chilcken and 1 can of cream of celery
add chicken pieces
season to taste
add broth if thick
put last can of cream of chicken on top
bake 350 for 30 mins
 
Granny Lois's Cornbread Dressing Recipe

Granny Lois was one of the best cooks in town. Everyone loved this recipe and she always made it for the church suppers. Everytime we talk about this recipe we laugh. The first time my daughter Karen made this, she did not know you had to bake the cornbread first, so you can imagine the mess she ended up with...we laugh every Thanksgiving over Karen's special dressing. Granny Lois wrote the recipe down for me before she passed away, but her writing was so hard to read, age had made her hands tremble and shake, but luckily, Karen still had the recipe written in younger days, so it is with joy that I share her wonderful recipe. Eat and enjoy !

Granny Lois's Cornbread Dressing

4 pkgs. corn bread...bake it first....
8 slices of white bread
8 boiled eggs,chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
3 sticks of celery chopped
3 cans of cream of chicken
1 can of cream of celery
1 boiled chicken,skin removed, cut into bite size pieces
sage
poultry seasoning
pepper
curry powder
1/2 cup cooking oil
save broth from whole chicken

prepare cornbread, crumble into foil pan.
crumble bread. add chopped up eggs,onions,bell pepper, celery and

cooking oil.
2 cans of cream of chilcken and 1 can of cream of celery
add chicken pieces
season to taste
add broth if thick
put last can of cream of chicken on top
bake 350 for 30 mins
This sounds delicious. With a whole chicken in it, it is a meal in itself. It sounds like it would feed quite a few people.
 
Today someone asked how to cook a turkey in a microwave. After a resounding response of don't, this video was shared. I have never done this and never will, unless life is majorly different. But, I thought it was interesting.

 
Today someone asked how to cook a turkey in a microwave. After a resounding response of don't, this video was shared. I have never done this and never will, unless life is majorly different. But, I thought it was interesting.




The only thing that comes to mind is "ewwww!" :)
 
Oven will need to be replaced. It's a 25 year old Sears and Roebuck. That means finding one that fits in it's sized area, ordering, and waiting for installation. I'm sure it'll be a few weeks. So I have a Coleman Camp Oven. Propane. Will hold a 9 by 12" baking dish. Can estimate temps within 50 degrees. Ha Ha. So outside the kitchen door is my new set up: Coleman oven, and Dutch oven cooking table. Inside I have a microwave, and the range burners work. Next door is where I'm cooking the turkey. She is out of town and we are feeding her cat.
 
That's too bad. If it makes you feel any better @Amish Heart we put in a brand new fancy double convection oven 11 months ago and it decided to have issues with about 45 minutes left to go on the turkey yesterday. Nothing big, the computer just crashed and rebooted. Which of course turned everything off so we had to reset the oven to bake. So we had to have the service guy come this morning and now we need a new motherboard. It still works but now you have to watch it when using it.
 
Everything turned out great. Did get the opportunity to try out my backups. No one could tell the difference. Have another large family meal to do Sunday, but we're having ham and side dishes. Easy enough.
 

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