This blog has been specifically requested by my BFF, Jane..... So here it is.
I guess you could say that I have had some interesting experiences in the turkey baking department. I tend to follow the beat of a different drumstick.
For starters I don't usually remove the innards........don't really see any reason to do that AND I really don't want to look at them :( or know anything about them.) They hold NO interest for me. So I just wash the outside of the turkey and leave the mysterious inner workings alone. If they are in paper they can get a bit crisp but I have had no major turkey fires to date.
Once upon a time it seemed logical to me to just LEAVE the frozen turkey in the trunk of the car until it thawed. So...I drove around with it in there for a few days. It just seemed silly to lug it into the house while it was still frozen. (Although everyone DID get a bit ill) and it was a bit messy when it thawed in the bag. But I managed to get the car cleaned out pretty well.
I am NOT a patient person as most of you who know me realize. (I don't like to wait on things....EVER)
Waiting on a turkey to bake can get really annoying- especially if you don't plan the timing well. So.. my solution has been to bake it for a little while one day, bake it a little more the next day, and a little more the next day, etc., until which time it finally gets done and the little red doo hickey pops out.
God forbid that the little pop out thing is defective.( I always forget to check the time when baking). Several times it has not worked properly. Sometimes that means microwaved turkey bits, and other times it means LOTS of gravy to moisturize it. (Thank you Heinz.)
There have been times in the past, I'm ashamed to say, that my family has begged me not to fix turkey. So one Thanksgiving I decided that it would be really "elegant" to bake game hens for everyone. ( I know that elegant is NOT a word one would normally associate with my cooking) Anyway I purchased the little guys- they were really cute- like little personal turkeys. I baked them- probably a little too long, I admit. They were not real juicy, shall we say. But I was totally unprepared for the reactions of everyone. I slapped one of the little buggers on everyone's plate. We said grace and then there was total silence. Everyone sat and stared at their plates and a few slowly began picking at the carcasses. Then one by one the plates got pushed back with looks of anguish... "We can't eat these," my son in law said , "They're little birds." "Yeah, I replied, "like turkeys, only smaller" But I could actually see his point- I didn't want to eat it either.There was just something not quite right about it. I really wish I had thought that one out before hand.
But- on a GOOD note...I can fix about the best creamed turkey on biscuits that you ever hope to eat. Ha.
