From The Parent Bloggers: Holiday time is almost upon us, and with it comes joy, togetherness,
and a healthy dose of stress, especially in the kitchen. Whether we’re
preparing the entire holiday meal or bringing a special dish, we all
want to get it right.
So when it comes to your cooking preparations, tell us your favorite
stories from holidays past and present. Did your overcooked turkey send
your family for take out? Did you use a frozen pumpkin pie and pass it
off as homemade? Or did your mother-in-law throw a fit when your
husband chose your stuffing over hers?
We want to know all about your family holiday meals. So dish it out!
I LOVE Thanksgiving. Love it with a passion that will never, ever die. What's not to love about a holiday that encourages you to make a ton of food, have your friends and family over to eat until you pass out, and then nap and intermittently watch football. And I'm a great cook, if I do say so myself. I can make a great cake, a mean veggie dish, lovely fluffy rolls and delicious fruit compote, not to mention divine cranberry-tangerine relish. Did you notice what's missing on that list?
TURKEY. My foe, my arch nemesis, my sworn enemy for life.
I don't understand it. I can, and do, roast chickens all the time. Delish. But I've attempted turkey twice and both times it was a dismal, undercooked failure. Once, my brother in law cut into the turkey that'd been in the oven for four hours to find that it was still partially frozen. Two hours later, it still wasn't finished cooking and we resorted to carving off pieces and microwaving plates. Thank goodness for my entire extended family that my father in law is ALSO a great cook, and he rocks a turkey like no other. So we split the duties - he makes the turkey, gravy, the stuffing, the mashed turnips (eek!), and I do the rest. I'm usually on the hook for carrot soufflé, corn pudding, rolls, relish, mashed potatoes, green beans, spinach au gratin, fruit of some magnitude and a couple of desserts.
This year, I'm going to attempt a turkey. I plan to brine it, and then follow every single direction that I can find. I'll be online with Butterball, nose deep in cookbooks, on the phone with my mom and promising anything asked to anyone that offers help. I swear on my foot that I'm going to master a turkey THIS YEAR. I may have to cook five and get rid of the evidence, but it will get done this year. It frustrates me no end that I can and have mastered soufflé, french bread, standing rib roast and any number of difficult dishes - and that dumb turkey eludes me every time. I will master it. I WILL.
This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Butterball.