Gobble Gobble Gobble

I picked up something today.... it's about 17 pounds, it just got into town yesterday, and it is going to be "yummmmmmy. It's my very first thanksgiving turkey to make!! My momma has to work this year, so after doing thanksgiving for 37 years, I am taking the torch this year.

I decided that since I have really tried to clean up our eating and be aware of where my food was coming from, I really wanted to get the best turkey possible. In comes Susie from Farm to Family in Mechanicsville, VA. Farm to Family is a totally amazing store that also has a bus that travels into the inner city to areas that may not have fresh produce readily available. The store carries a variety of organic produce (varies based on the season), dairy products, fresh pastas, and much more. Two weeks ago I ordered a turkey and when I went to pick "Herman" up today, I was not only able to pick him out, but also able to choose between fresh or frozen. Herman is now chilling out in my mother-in-laws fridge til Wednesday morning. At that point, Herman and I are going to begin what I'd like to consider a spa day for him. He's going to get a sea salt rub down, afterwhich he will receive a little dry skin brushing and then he's going to take a nice long soak in a brine. I've included a basic brine recipe for those of you who may not be familiar with brining.


•7 quarts (28 cups) water
•1 1/2 cups coarse salt and 1/2 cup of sugar
•4 bay leaves
•3 tablespoons pickling spice
•2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
•1 tablespoon fennel seeds
•1 teaspoon cinnamon
•1 fresh whole turkey (18 to 20 pounds), patted dry,with the innards removed
•1 bottle dry Riesling
•2 medium onions, thinly sliced
•6 garlic cloves, crushed
•1 bunch fresh thyme

He's going to soak in the 18 qt. roasting pan that I have overnight. Thursday morning I'll just dump the brine liquid out, cut some slits in his skin and stuff them with slivers of butter and garlic cloves. After that he will cook pretty much all day or until he gets about 180 degrees internally.

I hope you will stay tuned this week!! I'm going to include some more recipes for a healthy, traditional thanksgiving. I might even include one or two that aren't so healthy.. (Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie anyone?)