turkey

There are lots of ways to make turkey for Thanksgiving. After years of dry, mediocre turkey for dinner, we settled upon making the turkey in a bag. It seems to work pretty well, although, in honesty, I have never had turkey and thought that it was better than a Costco rotisserie chicken. Even deep fired turkeys aren't as life changing as the buttery goodness of the sacred Costco chicken.
Ingredients​
  • Turkey
  • Butter
  • 1 TBSP of flour (for the bag)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Stuffing
  • Deep pan (at least 2 inches)

Optional Vegetables in the Bag
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped into wedges
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1.5 inch pieces
  • 4 celery ribs chopped into 1.5 inch pieces

Optional Butter Herb Coating
  • 10 TBSP of butter
  • 2 tsp garlic
  • 2 TBSP chopped sage
  • 1 TBSP fresh rosemary
  • 2 TBSP fresh thyme

Set oven to 350 degrees
Directions
1. Put the turkey in the refrigerator three days before to let it start defrosting (if it's a 15 pound or under turkey). More than 16 pounds, add another day.
  • Option two is to put it in a cold water bath at least 24 hours before because a Turkey can take up a lot of refrigerator room
​​2. Once defrosted, take the gizzards and neck out of the turkey
​3. Fill the oven bag with the flour and shake it around
4. Take the Butter, soften it, and then spread it under  the Turkey skin. 
​5. Fill the cavity of the Turkey with stuffing.
  • Option here to fill the bag with the chopped onions, carrots, and celery.
5. Salt and Pepper the outside of the Turkey
  • Option here to blend the butter herb crusting and slather the outside of the Turkey with this rub.
6. Place the Turkey in the oven bag.
7. Tie the bag and then cut six slits in it so that it can vent.
8. Cook until the inside temperature is about 165 degrees
  • 12 - 16 lb turkey: 2 - 2 1/4 hours
  • 16 - 20 lb turkey: 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 hours
  • 20 - 24 lb turkey: 2 1/2 - 3 hours
9. Let the turkey rest for about 20 minutes once it is done. 
10. Cut the bag, remove the turkey, and place it on a plate and garnish it to death with fancy stuff so that you make Williams & Sonoma proud. 

why are we running?

When we got married, I knew my wife liked running. What I didn't realize was that her whole family liked running, a lot. So for our first Thanksgiving, we went to her family's house in California.  With so many people, I thought we would play a game of football in the back yard, eat some food, watch some football, and sit fat on the couch. Instead, I was instructed to get my running shoes on and then we went to the trail by her house with the whole gang.  Ok, I thought, maybe a nice little 5k turkey trot. Not so! Instead, there was a spectacle of events that had been planned. There were shorter distance events for the weaker members, and then a series of long distance runs for the true warriors. By the end of this series of harrowing events, I had no interest in eating, I just wanted to find a football game to watch and sit on a couch.  What I didn't realize, was that this would not compare to the events we would do as a family as time went on. Thanksgiving was a mere training event, the real fun was just getting started.