Anybody doing things different this Thanksgiving

kryolla

I deep fried a turkey couple of years ago which tasted really good. This year I bought a free range turkey and will soak in a brine solution overnight then sprinkle some dry rub and put it in my smoker. I wonder what all the hype is about with free range turkey or heritage turkey. This is my first time doing this so hopefully it will turn out good. My wife thinks I am going to ruin her Thanksgiving which is her favorite holiday, she usually cooks everything but this time I thought I would help out. Is anybody else doing anything different this Thanksgiving.

BeaverC32

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

aordal

Waking up at 2:00 am. Driving to the airport and getting on a plane. Layover in Omaha, NE. Layover in Denver, CO. Then hopefully arriving at destination by 1:00 PM in hopes for a mad rush for FOUR turkey dinners.

Jamie Heineman might say:
50% Chance I get stuck in Omaha
30% Chance I get stuck in Denver
20% Chance I don't even leave O'Hare


So, I'm gonna eat airport McDonalds for thanksgiving.

kryolla

aordal wrote:

Waking up at 2:00 am. Driving to the airport and getting on a plane. Layover in Omaha, NE. Layover in Denver, CO. Then hopefully arriving at destination by 1:00 PM in hopes for a mad rush for FOUR turkey dinners.

Jamie Heineman might say:
50% Chance I get stuck in Omaha
30% Chance I get stuck in Denver
20% Chance I don't even leave O'Hare


So, I'm gonna eat airport McDonalds for thanksgiving.

Damn and the holiday is suppose to be about relaxing. Good Luck on making FOUR turkey dinners. You'll probably be stuffed by the 4th dinner I imagine.

kryolla

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Yeah McNabb is starting this Thursday lol so I'll be watching them loose I mean win GO EAGLES

shednik

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Sounds like the perfect day

aordal

If I happen to make the plane trip I'm going to eat all the turkey I can at the first one. 2 years ago we did the same thing and everyone else overcooked their turkey. Had to drown it in gravy to keep from choking on it.

dynamik

We subscribe to Chili Pepper magazine, and we're going to go with some of their recipes this year. Spicy Thanksgiving!

kryolla

dynamik wrote:

We subscribe to Chili Pepper magazine, and we're going to go with some of their recipes this year. Spicy Thanksgiving!

Don't be shy what are some of those recipes. The dry rub I am putting on the bird is blackened creole.

BeaverC32

shednik wrote:

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Sounds like the perfect day

It really is. We have a big Italian family so we pretty much eat non-stop from the time we arrive on Wednesday to the time we leave Friday afternoon.

dynamik

I think my wife has the magazine in her car; she went shopping for everything last night. I'll post them up later.

snadam

BeaverC32 wrote:

shednik wrote:

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Sounds like the perfect day

It really is. We have a big Italian family so we pretty much eat non-stop from the time we arrive on Wednesday to the time we leave Friday afternoon.

hehe, us Italians know how to have a feast!

this year will be traditional for me, and damnit, thats the way i like it! Turkey, family/friends, football, beer. rinse lather repeat all day.

unfortunately, we only kick it on thursday...

royal

shednik wrote:

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Sounds like the perfect day

Pretty much what I'll do except the football will instead be playing with my nephew I rarely see and probably watching the Wall-E I bought for him on DVD.

rfult001

Barbecue and lots of beer, then we have dinner.

gorebrush

As a UKer, we don't really do Thanksgiving, though I wish we did!

Sounds like a Christmas Day dress rehearsal, just without the presents

royal

gorebrush wrote:

As a UKer, we don't really do Thanksgiving, though I wish we did!

Blame Christopher Columbus. I still find it odd that we celebrate the slaughtering of a bunch of Indians by being a bunch of gluttons.

JDMurray

I think we'll brine our turkey with oranges and pineapple juice again this year. But no SPAM in the dressing this time.

/usr

We're making dinner tomorrow and having some friends over.

Plus beer. Can't forget beer.

Thursday I'm off to see the other family I rarely see.

At least I get to eat Thanksgiving dinner twice...and at least my girlfriend is an awesome cook!

JDMurray

/usr wrote:

Plus beer. Can't forget beer.

I've already got the Sam Adams holiday packs in my garage fridge. I can't believe how good SA's Cranberry Lambic is!

/usr

I was a huge fan of the Cherry Wheat.

I picked up a 12 pack of Blue Moon, but if I had to venture a guess, I would say that it will be mostly gone by tomorrow.

skrpune

BeaverC32 wrote:

shednik wrote:

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Sounds like the perfect day

It really is. We have a big Italian family so we pretty much eat non-stop from the time we arrive on Wednesday to the time we leave Friday afternoon.

Sounds like my family, although my parents are Croatian and the menu is a bit different. Thanksgiving was always the big holiday in my parents house, and we never had a traditional menu...it was usually stuffed clams & shrimp scampi to start (mmmm my dad's specialities!), then filet mignon and capon (basically a 'fixed' rooster), along with my mom's fantastic meat stuffing. By the end of the day, everyone usually ended up in a food coma.

The husband and I are staying local in Chicago this year - it's too expensive to travel to the east coast & board our dog - so I'll be whipping up something yummy for the two of us. I ventured to the store today to pick up rations. I'm planning on doing a slow roasted rib eye roast & mashed potatoes for the main eats. I'll probably bake something tomorrow (cookies and/or some homemade granola, YUM!) and I might copy my dad's shrimp scampi for an appetizer if I can find some good fresh shrimp. I'm getting hungry already...

Aordal - give a shout if you're stuck at O'Hare - I'll bring you some leftovers!

JJArms

kryolla wrote:

BeaverC32 wrote:

We always have the same traditional dinner every year, but that is a good thing. After eating like a king I will watch the football games and pass out from eating too much turkey and drinking too much wine. It always turns out to be a great day

Yeah McNabb is starting this Thursday lol so I'll be watching them loose I mean win GO EAGLES

I am a die hard Jets fan, so that means I have to root for the worst place team -- so I will be cheering the Lions on!

The truth is I can either watch football or sit down and talk with my mother-in-law.

What time is the game on?


Regards,

JJArms~

kryolla

My wife just got me tickets from her work to the eagles game tomorrow night. On the 50 yard line below the owners box with free food and drinks. My first time to a pro football game I can't wait.

deadpool287

kryolla wrote:

My wife just got me tickets from her work to the eagles game tomorrow night. On the 50 yard line below the owners box with free food and drinks. My first time to a pro football game I can't wait.

well at least you get free food and drinks. other than that philly sucks
I live on the outskirts of philly and USED to be a eagles fan up until andy reid showed up.

kryolla

yeah I wouldn't pay for Eagles tickets I'd rather watch them on TV but since they are free with free parking, food, and drinks and its my first time it'll be worth it. Plus it'lll be McNabb last year here so we shall see if he gets benched again.

Kevin10686

I am from Baltimore and a die hard ravens fan and although I am stoked about how we beat the eagles and what not. I think their coach has to go. When you look at hime he looks like he dont give a **** if he wins or looses. I mean it was 10-7 and you pull out McNabb? I mean it isn't all his fault...but I mean 10-7 is still a game...

BTW..we usually have dinner and relatives at my house for turkey day but this year we are driving up to my wife's grandparents in PA.

deadpool287

mcnabb is a terrible QB. him and reid are the only problems with that team.

dynamik

kryolla wrote:

Don't be shy what are some of those recipes. The dry rub I am putting on the bird is blackened creole.

Apparently some sissies in the family whined enough about the spicy food to have that plan scrapped. I guess we're back to turkey and mashed potatoes. Man, I'm jealous of Skrpune's meal. That is what I'd like my meal to be! I guess I'll just have to resort to plan B ().

Kasor

Happy turkey day and a day off to catch up the drinking and reading. However, both activity do not work well. So, I decide to go to sleep and save the money for friday shopping?

Have fun.

kryolla

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I did the smoked turkey and it tasted really good and moist. The football game experience was awesome the food was great they had the normal stuff for this holiday plus sushi and oysters. They also had an open bar with top shelf alcohol. Eagles spanked the cards and the whole vibe was great. I think I might bring my whole family next time. Now its time to deal with the whole crowd on black friday and getting Christmas decorations up this weekend.

skrpune

kryolla wrote:

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I did the smoked turkey and it tasted really good and moist. The football game experience was awesome the food was great they had the normal stuff for this holiday plus sushi and oysters. They also had an open bar with top shelf alcohol. Eagles spanked the cards and the whole vibe was great. I think I might bring my whole family next time. Now its time to deal with the whole crowd on black friday and getting Christmas decorations up this weekend.

Mmmmm, sushi. Among my favorite things to eat, yum! I'm kinda jealous!

I skipped the temptation of doing seafood appetizers & went with an easier option - fresh bread & cheeses & dried sausages. I ended up baking most of Thanksgiving morning. I started off with peanut butter cookies, then made granola bars, then tossed in the rib eye roast when the baking was done. I made it super simple & cooked the roast slow, just rubbing some salt & pepper & a garlic herb mix & olive oil on it and cooked it for just over 3 hours. The gravy that came from the drippings was just heavenly. Not to toot my own horn, but that roast was the best thing I've ever cooked in 11 years of cooking. My husband and I were making all sorts of perverse sounds as we gobbled up our Thanksgiving dinner.

I'm staying sooooo far away from any sort of black friday shopping...saving some money isn't work dealing with the crowds and possibly getting crushed by hoards of people - anyone else hear about the Walmart store worker that got trampled & killed in NJ?? CRAZY. Kinda defeats the whole "Christmas spirit" thing if you kill someone while you're doing your holiday shopping, but hey, that's just me.