Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner & Recipe

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving long weekend, Canada! Who eats turkey on Thanksgiving? For me, it was an exhausting day prepping turkey dinner for the first time. There were LOTS of leftovers! My hand hurts from carving, cutting, ripping the turkey, and washing loads of greasy dishes.

I don't eat turkey much nor do I know how to roast one. I ended up making it because I received it at no cost from The Salvation Army Vancouver Community & Family Services. I am very grateful for this gift! It was a frozen whole turkey and it was very heavy. I left it in the fridge to defrost, taken out for a short time, and then put back into the fridge while I was out. It was still frozen so I had to run it under cold water.


Preparing was the easy part. After it was defrosted completely, I removed the plastic wrap and took out the giblets (which includes the neck part, heart, liver, and gizzard). I did a search on Google and learned from articles, YouTube videos, and through other people's experiences. I put in my own seasoning. Little one helped. He was very excited because he's been asking to have turkey this Thanksgiving.




Here's how I prepped my roast turkey:

INGREDIENTS I USED:
- 1 whole turkey
- chopped onions (about 1 cup)
- chopped mushrooms (about 1 cup)
- diced potatoes (about 2 med size)
- chopped garlic (about 3 cloves)
- chopped cabbage (about 2 cups)
- salt (about 1 tbsp)
- pepper (about 1 tsp)

1. Preheat the over to 325 degrees F with rack at the lowest part of the oven.
2. First, I rubbed olive oil with a pastry brush.
3. Then I rubbed salt and pepper all over.
4. I had chopped garlic and I rubbed that all over as well.
5. I chopped up some mushrooms, cabbage, and onions and placed them at the bottom of the roasting pan. I put some inside the turkey as well. If you're stuffing the turkey, allow extra time to bake.
6. Place the turkey breast side up on the roasting pan and tuck in the wings and legs.
7. I boiled the gibblets in a pot of water (about 2 cups) to make the turkey stock.
8. Pour the turkey stock into the bottom of the roasting pan.
9. Cover the top loosely with tin foil.
10. Set the oven timer for about 4 hours.
11. Use a meat thermometer and check that the meaty part reads at least 165 degrees F.

Tip: Baste often. If you don't have a basting took, just use a spoon to scoop the juices on the bottom of the pan like I did.


The turkey stock I made for basting:  
The turkey was still a little pink inside so I baked it for another extra 30 mins. The best part was the breast meat, thigh, and back. The meat on the drumstick and wings I find are a little chewy and hard. I think it was because of the tendons and I only cut out the meaty parts.


We used the cranberry sauce that little one and his classmates made at school: