Post Thanksgiving 2009

Betcha can't guess what we had for lunch Friday. And today. And possibly tomorrow.........

We had a great Thanksgiving, as usual. It was just the five of us. The menu consisted of:
Turkey - betcha didn't see that one coming, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, gravy, biscuits, cranberry jelly, cheesecake, sweet potato pie, and pecan pie. The links for these recipes will be posted sometime today if time permits.

We had a slight change of plans Thanksgiving morning. For the last few years I have been brining our turkeys and then smoking them on the grill. (I initially had just typed "smoking them" in the last sentence, but I just knew some wiseacre would write and ask how to roll them, so I added "on the grill")! I put the turkey in the brine Wednesday night and Thursday morning when it was time to put the bird on, the grill wouldn't work. I use the gas grill for this because I only use one burner which the hickory chips sit on, and the other burners are off and the turkey sits over these. The charcoal grill would be too small to allow the turkey to cook over indirect heat.

We have never had a problem with the grill, so of course it figures it might as well not work on Thanksgiving! Anyway, I roasted it in the oven. I was still determined to get some type of smoking with it, so I put a pan of wet hickory chips on my oven floor. It certainly was not smoked like it would have been on the grill, and it may even be debatable if the chips did very much at all, but I felt better! At least the brine itself gave it a good flavor and it was extremely juicy.

It was a very good (and filling!) day. We all ate entirely too much. But really, isn't that the purpose of Thanksgiving? To eat until you need to loosen your waistband? Kidding aside, I was (and am) thankful for everything the Lord has given me. As grace was said at the table on Thanksgiving, I was reminded of just how much I have been blessed with, and was (and am) grateful. I hope everyone had a wonderful day too. Happy Post Thanksgiving, y'all!