That is until last week. And what a journey it has been!
My girlfriend Amber has been in town, and she had still not met the newest Gomez. So to remedy the situation, she was going to join us for a leisurely dinner on Saturday. And with our finances being what they are, we had not gone grocery shopping and there wasn't much in the fridge. Except a 16 pound turkey. And to her credit, Amber could sense the tone. It was more than just the typical "let's have dinner at the house so we don't have to pay for the unneeded tips and parking fees," but that a meal at home made more sense for our family economically. So when she learned the contents of our freezer, Amber so graciously suggested we have the turkey. Unfortunately, the turkey was not completely defrosted by Saturday. We had chicken. So the turkey was still not cooked, but sitting and awaiting its fate.
I don't care what the packaging says, that turkey did NOT take 2-3 days to defrost. If it had, I would have attempted to serve it to Amber on Saturday. No, my turkey took its sweet precious time. It was closer to 4 days, and even then I waited till day 5 just to be sure. So with it being the official day of roasting, I searched the internet looking for a recipe to follow. This should not have been difficult, but I seem to complicate the simplest of tasks. I finally found a recipe that seemed easy enough, and yet I still ended up adding "special" touches of my own.
It was sometime during the rinsing of the bird that I realized that I was embarking on to something I had never worried about as a single person. The ceremonial roasting of the holiday poultry is an honor and privilege usually reserved for the most experienced of the family women. I was encountering a rite of passage that I had not properly prepared for. I was truly grateful at that moment that my attempt would not have to be the subject of the family feast. It would not have to undergo the careful and merciless scrutiny of my family, or more embarrassing, my in-laws. The only person I would have to explain my unusual additions to would be Stephen, and he has learned to embrace that "resourceful" side of me. So I added the uncalled for apples and clementines. And because I was too cheap to buy the dry white wine needed for the basting, I used the 4 year old bottle of champagne that we received as a wedding present. (Thanks, Brittany!) I mean, technically it is white wine. Its not like it actually came from Champagne, France. I think its from California... Regardless, I thought it to be a better option than buying a new bottle for only a 1/2 cup of wine.
I did manage to get that big bird into the oven. (Not to be confused with Elmo's yellow friend...) And I soon learned that the turkey's packaging not only lied about the defrosting time, but also the cooking time. But that's "ok." Luckily, we still had leftovers from two nights ago available for last minute consumption. I stayed up long enough to take the turkey out of the oven, and before I could even let the meat rest, I went to bed.
I could only get a quick nap in before work. As a scrambled to get my coffee ready, I did manage to get the turkey in the fridge. So after a long night of work, my last night of work (that's a different blog), I came home and knew that I couldn't just let the turkey sit around the fridge. I decided to try it in the final minutes leading up to Stephen's departure for work. I don't know if its my father's lucky culinary genes, or that I used a recipe that was fool proof. The turkey was amazing! The white meat was actually moist and had flavor! It was a mid-January miracle! My husband's response was classic, well, with a twist. "It's still not as good as your dad's." Oh, well.
So why do I write about my turkey excursion? Because as busy moms we have so many new adventures, and very few celebrations over our conquests. We are required to try new things everyday and be resourceful with odds and ends. I hope that you find yourself smiling and celebrating the trials of today.
No comments:
Post a Comment