Me Vs. Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! This was quite an interesting day for me, considering I was cooking for 3 people and didn't have my mom to help me with the turkey.

No, this was not my first Thanksgiving to cook, but it was my first to cook a turkey all by me onesy. I was scared out of my mind. I'm not a bad cook by any means, I'm actually rather good, mostly because I'm not scared to try new recipes. Almost nothing intimidates me in cooking. Except turkeys. Those are my Achilles heel in the kitchen. I felt like I constantly called my mom, "breast up or breast down?" "how long do I cook this for?" "how do I know when it's done?" It actually turned out fabulous! My husband said it was the best he ever had, and in the off chance I'd thought he was lying, that suspicion would have been quickly squashed when I heard the noises he made while he was eating it. Almost left him for a minute alone with the turkey, sounded like he needed it.

In the past, I've always made Cornish hens in lieu of a turkey because I've never been feeding enough people to merit a turkey. Or so I said. I'll admit, I was just scared. This has certainly changed my outlook on holiday cooking.

We had another holiday cooking first today. I did NOT fillet any of the fingers on my left hand this time. That's good news, and a big improvement from cooking for previous holidays. St. Patty's, Thanksgiving, I'll always manage to mangle my hand in some way or another. That's a big improvement considering I used the knife that I've had the most disagreements with. Maybe it finally got tired of the taste of my blood. Either way, I'm glad I'm band aid free.

I did miss my family and the big Thanksgivings that we always had growing up, but I can honestly say that might not happen again. I don't see Thanksgiving as a holiday worth traveling for, not that I need a really good reason to see my family. I just don't see driving/flying to eat a big dinner, take a nap and then come home. With Christmas in such close proximity, I really just can't bring myself to travel for this rather fattening holiday. Which is fine, I don't have to hide behind the Cornish hens anymore. I'll just go with the turkey... I got this! ;-)