It's Just Abbey

So last night I cooked an entire Thanksgiving dinner.

All by myself.

This may seem/be insane but hear me out. It was a blast and I learned a lot! Everyone goes on and on about how hard and time consuming cooking this yearly dinner is but I never really understood it. It’s always much easier to show up with an empty plate and have someone hand you food. But I think some people are either just lazy or bitter about the whole experience. Cooking is a wonderful thing in my mind. I cook and bake when I get stressed. I cook and bake when I get bored. I cook and bake when my poor little heart can’t handle one more Big Mac.

That being said Thanksgiving dinner is an all day task. I foolishly had other things planned but those were very quickly cast aside. Sorry running, sorry NaNoWriMo. I had to take the day off.

I started with the broth for my stuffing because it was something that takes some time but once you are done it can just sit and wait until you are ready to use it. Best part of my day? Playing with turkey gizzards. Call me disgusting all you want but who ever packaged my bird gave me two livers. Next time you get a chance, poke a turkey liver. Once you do, it never stops jiggling. Gross? No. Awesome? Yes. I whipped up my broth and moved to getting the bird all ready to bake.

I spend the majority of my time with this 10lbs turkey talking to it. I scolded it when it didn’t thaw as fast as I wanted, I begged it not to give me food poisoning, and I told it that if it fell on the floor I would drop kick it into the parking lot of my apartment complex. I went with the oven bag method of turkey cookin’ so I first lined the bag with onions and celery. Then I shoved the wings under the bird so it looked like it was chillin’ with its hands behind its neck (that is if its neck wasn’t brewing in broth at the time.) Then I put an apple in its chest cavity and proceeded to slather its skin with vegetable oil. Giggity. Then came the task of getting it into the bag. I held the turkey in one hand, the bag open with the other and prayed that all the oil wouldn’t cause the bird to fly out of my hands seeking safety. I told it that it was going in the bag no matter what and I believed in the five second rule. The turkey behaved. I shoved in the meat thermometer and I was all set! Into the oven!

As it was cooking I made candied yams, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing (er, dressing rather) and gravy. Tiny apartments and a kitchen running on all cylinders do not mix. It got almost to 90 degrees in that apartment. I had all the windows open, fans going and a staring contest with the smoke detector. Nothing too exciting happened until I was browning the marshmallows on the yams. Everything else was ready and it was the last thing to do. I put the oven on BROIL and waited. It didn’t take long and as the marshmallows swelled to extreme heights I panicked. I grabbed the worst hot pad in the world and pulled the dish out. This hot pad has holes in it by design. I had been so proud that I hadn’t burnt or cut myself all day. Then I seared my middle finger and almost dropped the dish but I made it to the table and was done.

I will say that it all went very well. The reason I cooked this dinner was because my boyfriend and I will probably never spent a Thanksgiving alone or, at the moment, together. So I wanted to surprise him. I told him I was making dinner as usual for Heroes night but he needed to be over a bit earlier. He didn’t suspect a thing! You know that look all girls want on prom night? She wants to come down the stairs to meet her date and he just looks at her in shock and amazement. That look that says, “I liked you before but I had no idea you were a goddess.” I got that look with a table full of food and a pretty turkey. If a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, I am in. Mawhaha! Ahem…

I also did it because I have never done much more than helping my dad season things and prepare a few items on the day of. I now understand why he never wants anyone in the kitchen. People just get in the way. I enjoyed cooking alone with the radio playing and my face melting off from the steam. I am also pretty sure I broke the fan on my stove. It was not impressed with my cooking escapade.

And in case anyone was wondering, it all tasted fabulous and no one is sick from my food. Always a plus in my book! We ate and were very happy. I would say that everyone should shut their pie holes about Thanksgiving dinner being a hard task and annoying but I can’t. I am a weird little person who thrives in heat and stress. A kitchen full of things that are about to explode is heaven for me. It is something I will recommend to anyone though. It is a pricy little adventure but worth every penny.

Happy Thanksgiving in advance everyone!

(And here is a blurry picture of my finished table. I didn’t have time to take a good one. I was freaking hungry!)