The Bird is the word

For as much as I cook, you would think by now I would have posted some recipes. It’s probably the perfectionist side of me, knowing I could never compete with some of the amazing chefs out there. However, everyone must have at least a few things worth sharing, including me.
So, I’ll start with the low-down on our Thanksgiving feast. I went to a Relief Society Fantastic Friday last month, and my sweet next door neighbor had prepared all kinds of Holiday foods, including turkey and stuffing. After tasting it, I knew that I must know how she did it. These are her instructions as I followed them:
Have you ever done a brine for your turkey? Well, she uses Coke. So my defrosted turkeys spent the night in a coke bath. Then in the morning I blended together a paste of these spices and spread that underneath the turkey’s skin.

I was pretty excited that our new oven has a built in thermometer. I slow cooked {and basted} the turkeys and it took almost precisely twenty four hours. Then I pulled all the meat off and kept it in the crockpot until Show Time. I wanted it to be ready early, because it has been known to happen that the turkey wasn't ready on time...

I might as well mention that I knew the recommendations are 1 to 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. We were planning on twenty people, so I was looking for a twenty pound turkey. However, Walmart only had 12 and 13 pound turkeys, so I brought home two, and counted on having some leftovers. No problem-o. EXCEPT my gigantic crockpot was practically overflowing with turkey and by the time dinner was over, we had barely gotten down to the rim. Lesson learned: Don’t count children when figuring how many servings you need. Since half of our guests were kids, I would have been just fine with one twelve pounder. But in this case, everyone got to bring home a pan full of turkey leftovers, which as we all know is the one drawback of not hosting Thanksgiving: no leftovers. And at 40 cents a pound, no harm done.

Okie dokie. On to the stuffing. Usually I just spruce up my Stove Top with some celery, onions, and craisins. But this is the recipe I used this year:
1 bag {15 oz} herb-seasoned stuffing {I used Stove Top}
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh sage {I didn’t use quite that much}
Bacon, cooked and cut into 1” pieces, or crumbled
2 cups chopped onion
3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups diced peeled apples and/or pears
1 can {14 oz} chicken broth
1 ¼ cups apple cider
Heat oven to 350. Prepare shallow 3 quart baking dish
Combine stuffing mix and parsley in large bowl.
Melt butter in skillet and sauté onion, celery, apple/pear 10 minutes or until tender. Add broth and cider. Combine with stuffing mix in large bowl. Gently toss to mix.
Spoon into baking dish and cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 more minutes.

I also made this cheesecake {I didn’t use a water bath and it was still scrumptious} and this key lime pie which was quite easy and super tasty.

Another fun snack we had out on the buffet was this Blessings Mix. Everything has a meaning, and they actually taste surprisingly good together. But I will warn you that the bowl was laden with just the craisins and peanuts by evening…
Bugles {obviously little cornucopias}
Pretzels {arms folded in prayer}
Candy corn {representing the 5 kernels of corn the pilgrims had rationed}
Dried fruits {celebration of the harvest}
Peanuts or sunflower seeds {potential harvest}

Incidentally, if I ever started a cooking blog it would be called “Mel’s Kitchen.”

And that's a wrap!