Well the second reason that I hadn’t been around was that I just procrastinated. But I finally have the time since I finished the book series to tell you about the The Bird and everything to do with that bird.

I know, I know. This isn’t a Turkey. Just remember it though for a little later.

This is the turkey, Stan. And I didn’t know I needed to brine it until 4:30pm the night before. Luckily Facebook is great for much more than just stalking people, but also learning about how they prepare for the big day…um…the big Turkey Day.

SO I got to work and found a pretty darn easy brine recipe.

Above are your ingredients, pretty basic right?

So boil 4 cups of water.

And then add a ton of kosher salt…or sea salt like I did. It’ll still taste splendid.

Then add in 2 tablespoons of your spices.

Stir them all together and then remove the pan from the heat.

Add in 4 cups of ice!

Then all you do is shove the turkey and the brine inside a bag.

Oh Stan, you will fit, I belieb in chew!

Great Success! He fit and I even got him into a drawer in the fridge to chill out over night. Luckily my sweet hubby saved the day because when I woke up to open at work (yup, I had to work from 4am to 1pm and then come home and cook for dinner, good times…gooooood times) I forgot to turn Stan. So I left my sweet Hubs a message asking him to save the day and, as usual, he did.

FYI, I used this same brine for the chicken that I made and it was delish.

So Stan sat and sat and sat and flipped and sat.

Then when I got him out, I stuffed him to the gizzard…guzzard? Gills? Anyways, I stuffed him with some fresh carrots, celery, sage and onions.

I cooked the sucker for 2-1/2 hours and, well, he was perfect. It almost brought a tear to my eye how my first ever turkey was so scrumptious and perfect.

I mean, seriously. Look at that color! Gawgeous.

Bah…I die.

Stan tasted so good, so very very good.

Then we pigged out.

And my mom’s stuffing was a complete success. Some doubted, but I taught them. It was wonderful.

Then after we were so stuffed we could barely eat anything else…we had dessert.

I made pumpkin cheesecake, apple pie and cookies.

Despite the fact that the food was wonderful, and the 8 of us had a wonderful time, I still had TONS of leftovers! Luckily we were able to survive off this for quite a while. All in all, I think my first ever Thanksgiving dinner as hostess was a complete success.

It was only superseded by the 6 hours in freezing weather my hubby sacrificed for the TV pictured above…no not in the picture with the desserts…that’s the old one. It’s actually the one in the very first picture I showed you. It was suppose to be a 42″ TV.

When my hubby got home at 5am I didn’t see him because he slept on the couch. I came of our room around 7:30am in the morning thinking he hadn’t gotten the thing because it was “hidden”…then when I really came to I saw a huge box that said 46″….hm…suspicious.

But what’s done is done and I can’t honestly say that I complain considering I’m watching Dr. Oz in some extreme huge clarity.

oh hubby.

So much more to fill you in on but we’ll get there.

I did want to let you know I’ll be sharing family tradition my mom has had for years with you. It’ll be revealing! Stay tuned!

Lovies