In preparation for this ultimate goal, I decided to cook a turkey for Easter this year. We had a turkey in our freezer since last Thanksgiving (that's a pretty good story in itself...you can read about that HERE). I decided it was time to get out the turkey and try to cook it. That way, if I failed miserably, it would be okay because no one would know except for Rex and I. All of my in-laws are back in Michigan. Plus, Rex has this thing about making a big deal for Easter dinner. I figured it was a good time to attempt cooking a turkey.
Did you know that cooking a turkey and going to medical school have a lot in common? It's true. First of all, you have to pull out all of the turkey's guts. It was like dissecting fetal pigs in high school, but it smelled less of formaldehyde. It was still gross. Even it's neck came out! Ewwww! I don't want to think of a turkey having a neck! I only want to think of it as deliciousness! Housewives are tough. Women of the past even killed the animals themselves - I'm not there yet. I got squeamish enough having my hand up a turkey's butt. Gross.
Not only is it like medical school because there are guts involved, but also because I had to inject the turkey with stuff. Did you know that's how to flavor a turkey?! I got an injectable marinade, and it came with a syringe. I had to screw the needle on and everything. Then I started injecting it all over the place. Poor turkey...good thing it was already dead. In my head I was pretending to be a doctor giving vaccinations: "Now you won't get smallpox....now you won't get measles...now you won't get polio...." Ha ha. Anyway, I injected all of the marinade, and then I rubbed a bunch of spices on the top. My friend Elle told me to "massage" the spices onto the turkey. Two seconds ago I was a doctor; now I'm a masseuse for dead poultry. It was crazy. Below is a picture of me injecting the turkey. Please notice that the picture is dark - that's because I prepared the turkey the night before in order to have it ready for Easter dinner. WOW - a two day cooking project! That's advanced.
I know this blog post would be a lot funnier if I could say that I attempted to cook the turkey but then I burned it to a crisp and had to call the fire department. I would post a picture of our dog gnawing on the charred hunk of meat. But GUESS WHAT?!?!?! It didn't turn out half bad! It was actually pretty GOOD! I asked my friend Elle for advice on how to cook it (she came over and helped), and I also talked to my pastor's wife about it. Now, if talking to your pastor's wife about cooking isn't stunningly domestic, then I don't know what is. Anyway, it turned out really juicy and flavorful, which is good because we were eating leftovers for the next week. Here is a picture of it:
This is me and Rex at our Easter dinner:
Okay, obviously I'm joking. That's not me and Rex. That's us fifty years in the future! Ha ha. But really, that's how I felt - very Norman Rockwell. Do you know how proud I was of myself? I was SO proud that I called my mother-in-law and said that when Rex and I move back to Michigan (this June), I would love to host a family holiday sometime. Do you know what SHE said? She said that none of the aunts have signed up for Thanksgiving 2013 yet, so it might be at our new house. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!! Then again, that would be the crowning jewel of this Vintage Housewife project, wouldn't it? I'll call that my final exam. Time to start getting ready...
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