Today I cooked something very traditional

Today,I put a 12lb turkey in the oven. Yes,I know its not Nov. but the turkey was onsale at Easter,and since its one of those cook a long time once,have many leftovers kind of item,I baked it today. My guys,husband and 2 sons, dont know it yet,but we're going ot be eating that turkey in various form all weekend. Tonight the big bird,really not that big,more like the size of a big ole hen, was roasted in the oven. I picked up some McCormick marinade season packs onsale this week. Since there is cilantro coming up very well in my new herb bed,that used to be a flower bed, I decided to go with a zippy kid of flavor theme for it. I mixed the Mojito/Lime marinade pack with some olive oil,a few extra dashes of salt,and a few splashes of cider vinegar.I snipped a handful of cilantro,and me and the bird went into business. I washed and dried him in the sink,then put him in my normal size roasting pan. I undid the breask skin,and slathered him up with the wet seasoning mix,on top of that,I added the fresh cilantro.Into his cavities,dont forget the neck, I chunked a vidalia onion,and some cilantro. I inverted him for the first hour of cooking. As the bird was finishing, I had to figure out quick what to fix with him.
hmmm, what goes good with turkey? Duh,Dressin. and NO,its NOT stuffing. i had a day old loaf of french bread from the bread rack at Kroger, opend up 2 boxes of cornbread stove top,and had my bread for dressing.
I pause to say that dressing is NOT intimidating. I've been the one for the past several years making it at my Memaws grand ThanksGiving dinner and no one has commented on how it does not taste like Sue's. The traditional way is with fresh and stale cornbread,homemade buiscuits,broth richly made from the innards of the turkey,herbs,and celery and onion.
Tonight that was not the case. I didnt have any cornbread,stale or otherwise on hand,nor did I have any buiscuits made from scratch. So I,like my foremothers,improvised! I heated some margerine,yes the dreaded M word,Im on a budget,so what can I say,I didnt use butter tonight. Oh well. I chopped up 3 stalks of celery,yes,organic,and yet another vidalia was chopped. I sweated my veggies. In the mean time,I started up some quick broth. I heated about 4 or 5 cups of water into which 2 large knorr chicken bullion cubes were added,some salt,and some poultry seasoning,and a dash of RUBBED,NEVER the other kind,of SAGE. I let it boil full on a few minutes,then turned it down,to give the illusion of depth. I got Josh to cut up the loaf of french bread,no,its not the least bit French.I added the cornbread crumbs into the bread,and gave it a shake. Then went in the broth. Whoops! I forgot to add the sage first. I thought I made a critical error.I added the sage,then the onions and celery that sweated very nicely in Granny's skillet. then went in the eggs,fresh from our friends KY farm! since the breads soaked up all the broth very fast,I added some milk to the eggs.shhh....don't tell my Memaw that! Into a 9x13 pan went the dressing.
I realized too late in the game I didn't have any cranberry sauce. So I opend up a jar of home canned apple butter,threw in a handful of frozen raspberries,a dollop of Nathan's brand spicy mustard,and a squirt of horseradish sauce. My kids loved it!
My family,my guys,as call them very much enjoyed my spin and twist on an otherwise borning kind of meat. turkey is one of my favorite meats b/c its so versitle,and cheap. Well,cheap at certian times of the year. I've been conciously watching more and more when certian items are onsale at steep discounts. Thanksgiving gets you turkey at .37c a lb. So this past year,I bought 3.and we zipped through them. Mainly b/c we like to have company. I wont say entertain,but Josh does at times break out the guitar. Anyway, You make cringe when a friend tells you we're having roast turkey for supper when you come over. That is,unless your friend is ME. Not to brag,but I can bake a bird,ANY bird. I think youre born having that ability.There are things I can't cook well,however,like bacon. Simple yes,easy for me,NO.I make it half raw on one end and burnt on the other.every time! So Josh brings home the bacon AND cooks it!
My Memaw is the one who taught me how to make dressing. I make mine like hers. My Mama's is great,but I like Memaws way better.{no offence Mom,and Maw,whom she learned from}. Im sure manya pan of onions and celery and oil of some sort has been cooked in my iron skillett,and tonight was no exception. What I highly doubt however,is that accompanying the dressing was a mojito lime turkey.