Has anyone made plans for Thanksgiving yet?

Windigo said:
I usually make an apple pie, pumpkin soup and a roasted chicken with cranberry sauce (Turkey is really hard to get around here when it's not Christmas).
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I'd prefer to do a chicken, but the wife insists on turkey ("It's Thanksgiving!"), so we do turkey. I might eat a total of two ounces of turkey on Thanksgiving Day. I don't care for it at all.
 
TastyReuben said:
I'd prefer to do a chicken, but the wife insists on turkey ("It's Thanksgiving!"), so we do turkey. I might eat a total of two ounces of turkey on Thanksgiving Day. I don't care for it at all.
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Can be dry - but properly cooked turkey has more taste than chicken IMHO. It depends on the chicken, though and how its farmed. Ditto the turkey. Most supermarket chicken is very bland. My choice would be a pheasant, or guinea fowl.
 
morning glory said:
Can be dry - but properly cooked turkey has more taste than chicken IMHO. It depends on the chicken, though and how its farmed. Ditto the turkey. Most supermarket chicken is very bland. My choice would be a pheasant, or guinea fowl.
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My issue with turkey compared to chicken is the texture. Turkey is...more firm, maybe? Chicken comes apart more easily, it seems, and isn't as chewy, I guess.
I rarely have an issue with moistness with turkey (or chicken) because I almost always brine it.
 
morning glory said:
Can be dry - but properly cooked turkey has more taste than chicken IMHO. It depends on the chicken, though and how its farmed. Ditto the turkey. Most supermarket chicken is very bland. My choice would be a pheasant, or guinea fowl.
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My dad roasts the turkey in one of those roasting bags, and waits for the doneness indicator to pop-up (even after testing with a thermometer -- he doesn't trust the thermometer, but trusts a plastic gimmick). So, it's up close to 200F when he pulls it out of the oven.

Sides WILL be mashed potatoes, stuffing (made inside the bird), candied sweet potatoes, green been casserole, and cranberry sauce from a can (the stuff that remains in the shape of the can). There will be zero salt and pepper used in the cooking of any of the above.

CD
 
caseydog said:
My dad roasts the turkey in one of those roasting bags, and waits for the doneness indicator to pop-up (even after testing with a thermometer -- he doesn't trust the thermometer, but trusts a plastic gimmick). So, it's up close to 200F when he pulls it out of the oven.

Sides WILL be mashed potatoes, stuffing (made inside the bird), candied sweet potatoes, green been casserole, and cranberry sauce from a can (the stuff that remains in the shape of the can). There will be zero salt and pepper used in the cooking of any of the above.

CD
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I think you just described every Thanksgiving from 1950-1980! :)
 
Windigo said:
We don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but we do Halloween/Samhain because we're pagans. That includes eating a lot of the same kinds of foods you see with Thanksgiving.

I usually make an apple pie, pumpkin soup and a roasted chicken with cranberry sauce (Turkey is really hard to get around here when it's not Christmas).
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Pagan? Me as well!

I do celebrate Thanksgiving, but every May I have a LARGE batch of folk over here for Beltane and our Maypole, and I cook everything for our omnivore and vegetarian celebrants/participants. Yes, your Thanksgiving food works for Samhain, too!

(Happy dance!)
 
Mountain Cat said:
Pagan? Me as well!

I do celebrate Thanksgiving, but every May I have a LARGE batch of folk over here for Beltane and our Maypole, and I cook everything for our omnivore and vegetarian celebrants/participants. Yes, your Thanksgiving food works for Samhain, too!

(Happy dance!)
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Two pagans amongst such a small group of active members must be off the scale in terms of average percentage of the population. I'm not exactly pagan but more atheist or possibly humanist. I'll celebrate mostly anything if it involves food.
 
morning glory said:
Two pagans amongst such a small group of active members must be off the scale in terms of average percentage of the population. I'm not exactly pagan but more atheist or possibly humanist. I'll celebrate mostly anything if it involves food.
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I hate labels because while they can be useful in a general sense, they also come with a certain amount of baggage ("well, you can't be atheist because my cousin is atheist and she doesn't think that at all"), but probably the best that describes me is agnostic, in that I really don't give a crap one way or the other. 😑
 
TastyReuben said:
My issue with turkey compared to chicken is the texture. Turkey is...more firm, maybe? Chicken comes apart more easily, it seems, and isn't as chewy, I guess.
I rarely have an issue with moistness with turkey (or chicken) because I almost always brine it.
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I brined my turkey one year. And according to instructions.

I washed as much of the salt off as possible prior to cooking it, and it STILL was inedibly SALTY. I felt terrible, as it was a pricy heritage turkey, and I could salvage very little. I was seriously looking forward to my first heritage-bred turkey, too.

No more brining for me!
 
morning glory said:
Two pagans amongst such a small group of active members must be off the scale in terms of average percentage of the population. I'm not exactly pagan but more atheist or possibly humanist. I'll celebrate mostly anything if it involves food.
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Probably so!!!

And apparently I'm all for celebrating food, too!
 
Mountain Cat said:
I brined my turkey one year. And according to instructions.

I washed as much of the salt off as possible prior to cooking it, and it STILL was inedibly SALTY. I felt terrible, as it was a pricy heritage turkey, and I could salvage very little. I was seriously looking forward to my first heritage-bred turkey, too.

No more brining for me!
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Wow, that's odd. I have never had a chicken or turkey turn out salty after brining. Hmmmmm. :scratchhead:

CD
 
caseydog said:
Wow, that's odd. I have never had a chicken or turkey turn out salty after brining. Hmmmmm. :scratchhead:

CD
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Dunno, Casey. As I won't ever ever brine a turkey or chicken again, I won't ever know. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact I rarely ever add salt to either of those meats in other recipes? But.. I have used soy-based marinates. Hmm.
 
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