The Turkey That Was

So yesterday for Thanksgiving, we had 16 adults and 19 kids gathering at our house for a traditional Thanksgiving meal and I was in charge of the turkey. You might be surprised to know that this was going to be my first ever turkey to cook by myself. Somehow in years past I had gotten out of this stressful duty.

Armed with a fast cook recipe from my neighbor Linda, I planned on putting the turkey in to cook at around 3pm. The recipe was so simple how could I go wrong. Take the turkey out of the wrapper, clean it, coat it in a salt and pepper mixture and put it in a roasting pan to cook at a smokin' hot 450 degrees for around 2 hours. Just let me tell you that it was about the most nerve racking 3 hours. First the oven wasn't getting hot enough. After waiting over an hour for the heat to reach 450, I just stuck in it the oven and hoped for the best. Next I had to deal with smoke coming from the oven. No, the turkey wasn't burning just some drippings in the bottom of the pan. Added some water and disaster averted. Then there was the decision on whether or not it was ready. Take the turkey out. Take its temperature. Put the turkey back in for another 15 minutes and repeat. Finally after about 2 hours and 15 minutes of cooking, Linda and I decided the bird was cooked. It looked nice and golden brown. I had a friend take a picture of me with my first bird but alas, there was no memory card in the camera. And it was too late to take another picture by the time I figured it out :(. So you will just have to imagine. It looked picture perfect but it still had to pass the taste test. And well, I am hoping some friends from the party will leave their comments about its taste. My opinion is biased of course.