Merry Christmas

I do hope you had a wonderful Christmas. We were so blessed to have our family at home. I tried a new recipe for the turkey this year. My 93 yr old Mother was a little perturbed that I would experiment on such a huge undertaking but I am always up for a cooking challenge and it was an amazing feat! For the first time, I tried  brining the turkey. I would be interested in knowing how many have tried this. I heard about it on a food channel. When I went to pick up my fresh turkey, they gave me the smallest of birds. I was able to negotiate but lugged home a 22lb..er. What to do? Brine. I washed Tom well and then found a clothing container to mix my potion. ( I had loaned my large cooler to my son) I started with hot water, added half a box of Kosher salt and mixed well. Throwing in some garlic, onion, cloves, bay leaves, sage, thyme, (I forgot to buy fresh) I mixed up my brew. In went Tom, and I filled the container with ice water before sliding the box out the kitchen door to the back yard. Outside he sat until Christmas morning, then I washed the salt off and dried him well and added onion to the cavities, some spices and put him in the oven at 450 degrees for half an hour. The temp was then reduced to 325 and I used a little aluminum foil to lightly cover the top until he was done. Wow!! Amazing!!  I know he was overcooked and yet nothing was dry. My Mother who is an incredible cook, was completely surprised at how well the turkey turned out. I think, if I don't mind saying myself, that it was the best turkey I ever had!! Hope your day was full of warm, happy memories!!