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Have you heard the saying of ?getting the monkey off your back?? It basically means you got rid of a problem that has plagued you for a long time. Well, my monkey has been a turkey. Until Saturday, I had never cooked a turkey. Not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it?s been hanging over my head for about 15 years.
We?ve been married for almost 22 years now and we have spent every Thanksgiving dinner at one of our parents homes. Both of our parents used to live in Utah so for a long time we would eat dinner at one house and then dessert at the other. We always tried to share the day with both families so no one felt left out. That was kind of exhausting at times and I used to wish we could just do one family or the other. Then my family moved to New Mexico 8 years ago and unfortunately that wish came true. Since 2004, we?ve been with my family on Thanksgiving Day only twice (2005, 2008) because if we want to see them at Christmastime, it?s too much to also travel there for Thanksgiving. We?ve never had my family come here for Thanksgiving because I really don?t have room. I don?t have a dining room, just a small kitchen nook. I also only have 1 oven. Now I know people have hosted Thanksgiving under much worse circumstances ? lol, but it?s also not really my favorite holiday. Yes, it?s true ? I even admitted it in this episode of The Digi Show. My Mom asked me ?what did we do to scar you so bad with Thanksgiving?? I don?t hate Thanksgiving or anything, it?s just not my favorite thing and I?m really not all that into turkey.
Ok, so I?ve established that we always eat our turkey dinner somewhere else. It?s mostly been at my in-laws in recent years. My MIL cooks a great turkey and they put on a beautiful spread. So we can stay at home in our kitchen nook, or we can go here and eat like kings. Easy choice!
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And since I don?t really love turkey, why would I bother to cook one during any other time of year? Nobody said much about it for the first few years of our marriage. Of course I wasn?t expected to make a turkey since we lived in apartments. Somewhere along the line though, my Mom started saying ?I can?t believe you are ___years old (insert current age) and you?ve never cooked a turkey!? I felt like less of a woman since I had never achieved this great accomplishment. Actually, that?s not true at all ? I felt brilliant for getting out of it for all these years! Somehow, when I hit my forties, it did begin to bother me. I started to realize that someday I will have to be the one to host Thanksgiving when my own kids are grown and I thought it would be a little embarrassing if I couldn?t cook the bird of honor. So this year I set a goal that a cooked turkey would come out of my oven before the end of 2012. My original plan was to do it in September so it wasn?t too close to Thanksgiving. That never happened and as the calendar kept rushing through the year, suddenly I was left with only about 6 or 7 weeks to make it happen. December is too crazy so I just went for it this past weekend. Fortunately, I have a really nice hubby who said he didn?t mind eating turkey so close to Thanksgiving. He wanted to help me achieve my goal.
I bought a fresh organic turkey from Whole Foods and a turkey brine mix. Hubby has always wanted to try a brined turkey. On Friday night, I covered my hands with plastic baggies and reached inside Ms.Bird and removed the neck & giblets. Let?s just say that part was one of the aspects that have put this task at the bottom of my list for so many years. I don?t like touching raw meat and I especially don?t like giving my dinner an ob/gyn exam. lol! We all had a good laugh when I got out the flashlight and looked ?up there? to be sure I got everything out. On Saturday afternoon, I pulled out the birdie and patted it dry. I put it in a oven roasting bag (which is what my mother-in-law uses) with some onions and celery and proceeded to roast it. I forgot to put in a pop-up timer so I relied on my meat thermometer. I was so worried about it not getting done, that I know I overcooked it a bit. It still was very tender and moist. Not nearly as good as what my Mom or MIL make, but respectable for a first attempt. Now, I have that stinkin turkey off my back! No longer do I have to settle for being less of a woman.
The Monday before Thanksgiving is a great day to document some of your memories of Thanksgiving dinner if you are American. Some other countries have their own Thanksgiving traditions as well. Or perhaps your family has a special dinner that is passed down through the generations. Do you know how to prepart it? Do you follow the same recipes as your mother/grandmother, or do you put your own twist on it? All interesting things to think about on a Memory Monday!
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Source: http://www.scrapbookladypages.com/2012/11/memory-monday-getting-the-turkey-off-my-back.html
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