The Best Turkey That Has Ever Come Out of My Oven!

My family really, really enjoys a turkey meal. I really, really, really abhor making a turkey meal. That extra 'really', plus the underline means that 99% of the time ... I win.

I simply cannot remember the last time I cooked a turkey. If I remember correctly, I was mad at that turkey and all the work he created for me.

Honestly. I cannot think of a more labor intensive meal.

We took our (year+ old) turkey out of the deep freeze Saturday afternoon around 3:00 and started the defrosting process. We immersed the bird in cold water and so began 'the thaw'.

Later on, we were reading 'How to Cook a Turkey' on the Internet and by that calculation, we took the turkey out hours too early. But the deed was done. Visions of bad turkey danced in my head ...

The next morning, some time after 10:00 I thought I'd check in on our turkey. I worried needlessly. There were still ice crystals on the outside of the turkey. The innards were frozen quite solid inside the turkey's cavity. It was a wrestling match to remove them and prepare for the next steps that would rule the day.

It was at this point (after the cavity was emptied), that my Middle Son stepped in and took over.

He cleaned, seasoned and stuffed the turkey. He took over the bird portion of the meal. I started peeling potatoes but was interrupted when we went to get groceries (he had to start his truck anyway, so offered to drive me out in our newly snow covered streets).

We came home and as I unpacked the groceries, my Middle Son finished peeling the potatoes. He suggested we have carrots as well and proceeded to peel those.

It was sometime soon after that that he checked the temperature of the turkey and it was cooked (hours ahead of schedule ...  how could it take hours longer to thaw on one end of the scale and hours earlier to cook on the other??).

He removed the stuffing from the bird and we let it sit for a good half hour before carving. And he did that too. He was meticulous in his carving and the platter of turkey was pleasing to the eye ... and the carcass was ready to be tossed into a soup pot. His work there was done.

But did he stop? No. He mashed the potatoes (to perfection) while I tended to the other courses. We both puttered our afternoon away in the kitchen, but the lions share of the 'ugly job' of tending the turkey was done by my Middle Son.

Our entire meal was cooked and ready in the oven as we awaited my Oldest Son's arrival. There was absolutely no chaos in the kitchen at the last minute. We were all sitting down and watching America's Funniest Videos when My Oldest arrived.

The food was brought out and plates were loaded. I waited until everyone else had filled their plates and served myself a generous helping of each of the entrees.

I could not believe how good that turkey meal tasted. It was the best turkey meal that has ever come out of my kitchen.

Did it have to do with the fact that it was a free-range turkey? Or was it because the turkey was not over-cooked?? Or ... was it simply due to the fact that the job did not land entirely on my shoulders? My Middle Son stepped up and did everything that grosses me out, when it comes to cooking a turkey (except cleaning out the frozen gizzards).

By the time we sat down to eat, I had forgotten any part that I had played in the preparation of that bird. It was the best 'Christmas meal' that I can remember.