I wasn't sure we'd be able to eat turkey for Thanksgiving. I'd heard rumors that you could order them way in advance, but I tend to forget what month we're in here (could be the upsidedown and backwardness of Thanksgiving in the Springtime...) SO, I didn't get a big jump on things.
Last Tuesday, I decided to 'have a go' at my local butcher shop. Before I even got done asking if it was possible, he was cutting me off (knowing from my accent what I'm gonna want) saying "Must be time for Thanksgiving. Too bad. We have to special order them. It takes days; sometimes weeks...blah...blah...blah" I smiled and said, "No drama," in true Aussie form and motioned to the kids to follow me over to the rotisserie chicken counter.
At this point the kids were climbing all over the front of the meat counter to get a better vantage point--exclaiming about the chicken necks and livers for sale. Then for some unknown reason, the butcher changed his tune, and told me to "Hold on. Won't be two sec's. I'll make a couple calls."
I still wasn't sure what to expect with ordering a turkey. Would it have feathers and its head still ON? What is this gonna cost me? How do you even make turkey???
Anyway, the butcher talked to his peeps and secured us a turkey--we could pick it up on Friday (which was fine cuz we were having Thx dinner on Sunday). The kids cheered. "The butcher is our friend! He found a turkey for us! Hooray for butchers! Hooray for pilgrims!"
OK. That's not entirely true. Aubs flashed a smile, and I think Taylor was happily clicking his tongue. But if it were a tv show, that is how we would've reacted.
The butcher laughed off my head/feathers questions so I still wasn't sure what to expect. He did say it would cost about $15/kilo. I'm no math genius, but I knew this was going to be an expensive bird. (turned out to be $98) And I wasn't about to back out now! But, as I considered telling Matt about the price, I kept thinking, What's so wrong with roasting chickens for Thanksgiving?
Well, Friday came, and I asked Matt to accompany me to the butcher shop. He had to leave work early since everything closes at 4 stinkin' 45! No kidding. ANyway, I was really nervous to see the bird, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to carry IT and Taylor. Turned out the bird was mostly free of feathers, and besides the long neck-skin, it looked pretty much like a Butterball.
We went home and crammed it into our tweensy lil fridge. And I went to the web: How to cook a turkey. Does there have to be 100 different ways to cook a turkey? All claiming to be the best and only method for success? Sheesh.
Sunday morning came, and I knew I was gonna have to look inside the bag. And remove the bird. And touch it. And clean it. And try my very best to make our 98$ bird delicioso. Such pressure. I couldn't get those damn Thanksgiving Point turkeys out of my head. My friend Jen has been haunted by those wrinkly turkey necks and still won't even eat a turkey sandwich at Subway!
I decided I'd need the "help" (from above), so I went along to the first hour of church and put off the inevitable a little longer. Matt brought me home during Sunday School. I put Tay down for a nap. And it was just me and the turk. I scoured the sink at least 3 times, and then cut off the wrapping and started the bird's bath. (mom-I can hear you. "Summarize, Carrie.")
Ugh. The legs moved around way too much. But, I rubbed the skin with salt, and tucked some herbs and butter under the breast skin and threw it into the oven. I was free to sanitize everything all over again! YaY!
Right on schedule, the bird was cooked and rested and the potatoes were mashed. My gravy was way too salty (as a result of rubbing too much salt on the skin beforehand, I'm assuming). We packed it all into the car and drove it over to our American friends' house. I made Matt carve it up, but not before I got this pic.
The stuffing and potatoes are my favorites, and these did not disappoint. The turkey was moist!After all that drama, I didn't know if I'd want to eat any, but I did. We had invited a few Aussie friends to join us, and I think everyone went home FULL!
Here are the pics...
The Evolution
Lotsa sides
Eat 'n.....
Run!
Riveting post-turkey conversation
She ate at the grown-ups table, and he hasn't learned what he's missing :)
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6 comments:
You are so freakin' hilarious! And you even said "damn" too! Don't ever "summarize" on this site. I get such a kick out of your storytelling that I laugh out loud while reading in my office. People give me funny looks, but that is nothing new. Glad the bird worked out and that you even could enjoy it. Makes me want to eat that meal all over again.
sounds almost as fun as our thanksgiving.
jack:p
P.S. check out my blog!
I agree with the guy who called you freakin hilariious!!
And I'm bursting with pride that you pulled it off (so who nominated you to bring the turkey??? better not have been Matt!)
And you didn't even make the mistake Valerie made (forgetting to take the little bag of 'spare parts', i.e. liver, heart & neck, out before you cooked it!) Or maybe your bird didn't come with those precious little nuggets of grossness... (That whole turkey tasted like LIVER. Ughhh.)
And for $98 - it better have been a biggie!
What a perfect ex-pat Thanksgiving!
You had all the great elements - food, friends, food, fun, food (turkey!) and family.
Way to go Carrie!
So glad you found a turkey, and it probably was worth the $98 just for tradition's sake! Congrats on successfully cooking it. That was a skill I had to learn years ago as I moved away from my parents too!
Love the blog and all your fun updates. I'm hoping to see the movie Australia soon . . . I'll have to let you know what I think!
I am very proud of your turkey skills. I don't look forward to the day I have to make a turkey. Just seems so hard and pretty nasty! Thanks to James mom we didn"t go without turkey. Aubs looks so dang cute feeding Taylor.
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