Cooking a Thanksgiving turkey is a romantic notion but in reality, it's rather gross—the bones, the grease, the horrifically phallic turkey neck. And don't even get me started on the giblets. Needless to say, the less I have to touch the bird, the better.
This year instead off preparing a full-on turkey, I've pre-ordered a 'turkey roll.' What is a turkey roll you ask? It's a real turkey with the bones and icky bits removed for you by the butcher. You pick it up packaged all tidy-like bound together in a net. Some butchers (e.g. Wholefoods) will also pre-stuff the roll for you. The price is based on weight. For a four-pound (keep in mind, that's all meat, no bones) stuffed and rolled turkey breast for six adults, I paid just under $40. Reasonably priced and no shriveled turkey neck to haunt my dreams.
Minus making turkey soup using the bones, anything you can do with an ordinary turkey, you can do with a turkey roll—cook it in your slow cooker or roast in the oven.
To make the meal even easier I'm assigning each family member a side dish, e.g. garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing casserole, bread. I'll do the veggies and....to the shock and awe of my family, I am going to "attempt" to bake this pumpkin pie. If you don't hear from me after that adventure, you may assume it didn't go well.
Instead of spending hours in the kitchen, we're going to focus on family time because really, isn't that what this holiday is all about?
After a family hike in the woods (with a little leaf collecting and Geocaching thrown in for nerdly kicks) we'll return home to the aroma of a boneless turkey just waiting to be carved and we'll sit around the table and taking turns sharing our thankful moments. My poor kids are always forced into these “Sharing and Caring” moments. They pretend they don’t like it, what with their cries and protests, but I know that deep down they appreciate these special, special times.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
What are you thankful for this year?
Printer-friendly version