Talkin Turkey

Well I did it. I finally roasted a turkey! And for that I give Thanks!

How neighbourly of me! I am Canadian, so no, this is not an early Thanksgiving Turkey. We did our Thanksgiving weekend last month. I explained it to my son like “our harvest season is earlier because of how it gets cooler here sooner”, but I really don’t know why our Thanksgiving comes earlier. I bet it Is to do with when the carrots are done in the ground though! I like to think that idea.

Aaaaanywaaaaay, back to turkey. Why I decided to learn how to roast a turkey is thus… we were given ‘Christmas’ turkeys at work. And I already have a turkey in my freezer that I have been ignoring for many months, so there wasn’t room for it in there. And I Could have given it away, that would have been nice of me I guess. But my wallet is thin and we can use the good food. So. Time to woman up and learn how to roast a bird!

Is it shameful that I haven’t in my 39 years roasted a bird before? Here are a few reasons. In the past I have lived as a vegetarian, so I had an excuse not to learn. I also lived with people who wanted to own the kitchen on big meal days, and I let him, I mean Them. I have been known to be in charge of the squash. Because I like squash and if I didn’t do it, there might not be any. Sure. Or, more likely, and most recently, I work most holiday meals. And so my son goes elsewhere for the big dinners, and I again have an excuse not to bother. But, I am far too thrifty to not roast this bad boy up! I know, this is not vegetarian friendly. But I put that aside for the sake of affording to feed my child. There. We have to weigh our conscious decisions sometimes…

So. Days of fridge thawing gave me time to research. There are some pretty decent websites that come up, with a good old googling! And friends to resource. And at 8 pm tonight we ate a plateful of turkey with gravy. Nothing else, mostly because we had already eaten all our regular meals today, and this was an experiment, a learning experience…not a full on celebration. And because I was too busy rearranging my bedroom to bother with the vegetable prep. (Not sure what that was about, procrastination? Denial? Nesting?) I Had considered setting the turkey on top of some carrots and taters to roast, but I am not that experienced yet. Anyway according to Elfboy, I did pretty good.

My freezer agrees. Actually it doesn’t yet. Because I need to find room for all the little foiled packages of turkey meat ready to be popped in there for future reference. (Lookin forward to months of turkey pot pie and soup!)

I don’t have any pictures to share of the experience. Roasting birds are gross to look at. I bet the neighbours are wondering what I was up to with all my verbalization during prep time. But I guess I done good. (Thanks to 3 special helpers from a distance!) and I am pumped to learn about stuffing and determined to make cranberry sauce to go with the next one. Which I won’t be thawing any time soon, I can tell you that! In the mean time, Turkey for all! Sammiches and a massive drumstick for lunch tomorrow…  (At least some kale salad to go with?) Good times.

Now that the thing has been roasted, eaten and stripped, I am ready for some … raisin bran. Mmmmmm

So, an early Happy Thanksgiving to my American Friends. In this time, when there is so much grief to focus on, I am also thankful for many things. And I wish for you to have much to be thankful for too. May abundance surround you.