My First Turkey!

Yesterday I started "practicing" recipes for the holidays. My feeling is, I don't want to be super-stressed out when the day comes, so if I've made the dishes before, I will feel more confident and relaxed. Or, so the theory goes.

My first hurdle was to tackle the turkey. I have never cooked one before in my life, always being fortunate enough to live by family I can join on Thanksgiving. My parents had given me a free bird after the holidays last year, and I have been procrastinating this daunting task until now.

I will spare you the gory details of how the "bits" were removed from each end, and the thing was rinsed with cool water. My hands weren't free for picture-taking anyway. And though my husband was on-hand, he was mostly concerned with keeping the dog out of the kitchen and saying reassuring things like, "Don't look at that too long, just toss it in the trash." Yuck!

Anyway, here is the buttered bird:

I was all ready with string to tie the bag, and seasonings to sprinkle. I was (more or less) following the directions given on How to cook a Turkey Dinner (I highly recommend it, it is easy and illustrated).

I sprinkled the seasonings on while it sat in it's oven-bag.

Tied it up with string and pierced a very small hole near the tie, to release excess pressure that might build up during cooking.

Here is the bird ready to go in the oven:

My Dad will be happy to notice that I placed the bird "breast up."

And a little less than four hours later at 325 degrees, here is my finished turkey:

It got rave reviews from my parents and husband. I call that I complete success!