How to Make the Perfect Turkey

Thanksgiving is a day to watch football, get together as family, eat great food, and most important of all—eat turkey. It is vital that the turkey is cooked to perfection as this is usually the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal in most homes. I have cooked turkeys for a long time now and have discovered a recipe and method that has drawn many great reviews from family, friends, and others who have partaken of my roasted turkey.

• It is very important to thaw out your turkey in plenty of time before the big Thanksgiving Day. It is best to thaw out the turkey in the fridge or in a bath tub full of cold water. Make sure and change the water every few hours when using the bath method. If the turkey is not thawed sufficiently then it will make for uneven cooking making the outside over-cooked and the insides under-cooked.
• Once you have thawed the turkey out and have removed the insides, rinse it off and pat with paper towels.
• When the turkey is dried off, rub the whole body with real butter with your hands. Use a generous amount and make sure it is completely coated on the skin. Once the bird is covered in butter, you are ready to add the seasonings.
• Use Grill Mates dry rub for the seasonings on the turkey. You can find this in the spice aisle of most grocery stores. There are different flavors of seasonings (my favorite is Montreal steak). Choose whatever flavor you would like and rub it onto the skin and into the butter. Make sure and use generous amounts to cover the turkey completely and rub into the skin as much as possible.
• Once the turkey is covered in butter and seasonings, put into an oven bag which helps to keep the moisture and heat in the turkey and cooks it faster and better. The directions will be in the oven bag box.
• Put the turkey in the oven and cook for the amount of time listed on the oven bag instructions. Make sure and put several small holes on the top side of the turkey bag for some of the air to release from the bag.
• Once the turkey has finished cooking, let is sit for about 15 or 20 minutes to let the meat set up and the juices to settle into the meat. This also makes it easier to slice.
• To carve the turkey, it is important to use an electric knife. The electric knife makes for a better cut and is much quicker than with a regular knife. Start with removing the drum sticks and remove extra meat on the sides to make it easy to cut the breast on each side of the turkey.
• Cut the breast slices in large uniform slices with some of the seasoned skin on the edge of each slice if possible.
• Finish carving the turkey and place it on a large platter in a uniform pattern.
• The final touch is to sprinkle some of the grill mates seasoning on all of the slices (not too much, but enough to give it a little more flavor).

Hope you enjoy this recipe. This turkey should draw some great compliments.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and remember to take some time to think of all the things that you are thankful for- including a great roasted turkey.

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Thanksgiving Activities

Thanksgiving is a great holiday to get together with family and enjoy a wonderful meal together and then spend an afternoon doing fun activities which help to strengthen relationships with some of those relatives that you may not see as often throughout the year. Here are 5 different ideas of fun activities and things that you can do after you are done eating that final piece of pumpkin pie.

1. Watch the Cowboys football game. Other than turkey, the thing most associated with Thanksgiving is football. The Dallas Cowboys play in the annual afternoon football game that starts after most people’s Thanksgiving meals are finishing up. There isn’t anything more bonding for men than to watch a good football game together. This also helps to get the men out of the way of the women so they can accomplish the projects they enjoy working on.

2. Cards, Scrapbooking, and Crafts. Women love to get together and create things and visit while they are working. I have seen this many times over the years since I have been married to my wife. Her family makes cards and crafts once the Thanksgiving feast has been finished. They clear the tables and sit out their card making equipment, pictures for scrapbooking, and other various crafts.
This also helps the men to get the women out of the way so they can watch their football game without interruption.

3. Board Games and other Games. The kids need something to do after Thanksgiving so that the men and women can do their thing. In my family we set out a whole bunch of board games and play with the kids and let them play by themselves. We also let them play dress up and other little games. The kids love seeing their cousins and playing together all afternoon long.

4. Shooting Guns. My wife’s family is not the sports fanatics that mine is, so the men shoot their shotguns at clay pigeons and target shoot following the big dinner. They enjoy being outside and watching each other miss (I mean hit) the target and clay pigeons.

5. Watch a Movie. One of my favorite things to do on Thanksgiving night is to put in a good movie, start a warm fire, pour up a cup of steaming hot cocoa, curl up on the couch, and put in a good movie to enjoy after the kids have gone to sleep.

While doing these activities we should remember how lucky we are to have a wonderful family to be together with, how lucky we are to have the freedoms we do, and also all of the blessings that we receive each and every day of our lives.

Make your Thanksgiving a fun one with the activities listed above and make sure that
you don’t eat too much food, because your New Year’s resolutions are coming up.

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Thanksgiving Memories

Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that is very relaxing and enjoyable. The basic premise of the holiday is to eat a lot of food, watch football, and celebrate together as a family the many blessings that we have and receive daily. We are truly a blessed people to have the many blessings and luxuries of life that we enjoy on a daily basis.

As a child I have many fond memories of Thanksgiving. I remember preparing the night before the big day by setting up the tables and chairs and helping my mom get the house ready for the large group of extended family that would be coming the next day. When Thanksgiving morning arrived my brother and I would put on our clothes and coats and play the annual game of Thanksgiving football. We played the game one-on-one and would hold our little game in rain, sleet, or snow. I remember many years when the snow would be coming down heavily but we would still be out there running around tackling each other. We would then come in and have a cup of hot cocoa and get warmed up and start helping our Mom finish up the final preparations for the big dinner.

About this time, the relatives started to arrive. My uncles, aunts, and cousins would come over for the big feast. It was fun to visit and play together while waiting to start the meal. We would often watch football while waiting. I remember watching many games with my uncles and cousins on Thanksgiving afternoons. The nearby coal stove would warm the room while we watched and the aroma of the food being cooked in the kitchen filled the entire house. We would snack on appetizers of chips and dips and veggie trays.

My Mom made the best Thanksgiving dinners. If the smell of her homemade rolls didn’t delight you, the taste of the crisp buttery outside and soft inside would win you over quickly. Her golden basted turkey always smelled incredible and the slices were moist and would melt in your mouth. She always made the best mashed potatoes and gravy. She used potatoes right from our garden and made the gravy from the turkey drippings. To this day when I smell hot butter rolls or a large turkey cooking in the oven I often think of the Thanksgiving days growing up as a young boy.

After enjoying this incredible meal every year, we would then retire back to the TV room to watch more football. The Dallas Cowboys would play their yearly game and it always seem to be an exciting game full of long passes, hard hits, and close finishes. After the game the desserts would start making the rounds. My Mom made pies, cakes, cookies, ice cream, and every other dessert you can imagine. As a child I thought this holiday rivaled Christmas. What can be better than lots of food, football, and family?

Now I have my own family, and we trade off every year going to my wife’s family for Thanksgiving one year and my parents the next. I still enjoy the hot rolls, the moist turkey, and watching football. I still enjoy the family and visiting together. I no longer play my brother in the annual football game, but the memories will always be there and I will play it out in my mind every year Thanksgiving comes around.

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