Looks like I'm staying home for Thanksgiving this year...

[K Frame]

Enjoy the scalloped corn bake.

I found instructions for making it in the crockpot, so that's what going to happen!

[zxcvbob]

I would love to be staying home for Thanksgiving.  I just dropped the dogs off at a kennel for 8 days.  ($$$)  Tomorrow after church we leave for NE Alabama (near Chattanooga, TN).  Will spend a day or two there visiting MIL, then drive to New Orleans to meet Daughter and SIL for a couple of days, then drive back to Minnesota.  That's about 2500 miles round trip.  I can drive 800 to 900 miles in a day (not every day), but Wife's limit (driving or riding) is about 600, so I don't see how this is gonna work. I'm major dreading it.

I bought a 22 pound turkey this week and shoved it in the freezer (had to bungee-cord the door shut to get it to seal good) to cook when we get back to celebrate surviving it.  Or I might cook the huge pork shoulder roast that's in there and save the turkey for Christmas or New Years.

[Ben]

I can drive 800 to 900 miles in a day (not every day), but Wife's limit (driving or riding) is about 600, so I don't see how this is gonna work. I'm major dreading it.

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. My limit these days is about your wife's limit. A couple of years ago, I had to break that to get to my dad's deathbed 800 miles away, arriving around midnight, and I was wiped out the whole next day. The mileage isn't necessarily what kills me, but moreso I can't deal with big city traffic anymore, and that is all of CA from Sacramento South.

[zxcvbob]

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. My limit these days is about your wife's limit. A couple of years ago, I had to break that to get to my dad's deathbed 800 miles away, arriving around midnight, and I was wiped out the whole next day. The mileage isn't necessarily what kills me, but moreso I can't deal with big city traffic anymore, and that is all of CA from Sacramento South.

A few years ago I was at my parents' house near Houston when Covid was just breaking-out.  I was stuck there for about 2 months and finally had to make a run for it.  Didn't know if it was safe to stay at a motel, and if you try to sleep in your car at a rest area the cops will hassle you and you won't get any sleep.  So I drove it straight through; just under 1200 miles.  I impressed myself that I can still do that.    The only big city driving was Kansas City.  (there was also Des Moines, but that one is easy so it doesn't count)

[MillCreek]

We are doing dinner for 14 this year. We just got home from Costco where we scored an 18 pound turkey and 4 pound MasterCarve ham. I did one of those hams a few years back and now it is requested every year.

[cordex]

Someone heard I have a pellet grill and asked me to smoke a turkey. Never done that before, but a friend’s wife gave me some tips.

[K Frame]

"I would love to be staying home for Thanksgiving.  I just dropped the dogs off at a kennel for 8 days.  ($$$)"

I'd love to be traveling this year to spend it with Castle Key and his wife and some friends down there, but I'm running out of leave due to having to get Seren to her treatments. And, I really don't want to put that kind of stress on her. She's a good traveler, but the holidays are always a lot of confusion and people she doesn't know, and she's not getting along with Paradox, the dominant female at Castle Key's. They used to be wonderful friends when they were puppies, but after Seren's Mom died the dynamic completely changed.

Now Seren keeps getting delusions that she should be the queen. I've had to come home early from the last two trips down there because the situation between Seren and Paradox was getting really tense and we didn't want a dog fight that I'm certain Seren would lose... badly.

And, I just don't know how much time I have left with Seren, and I want to spend as much time focusing on her as possible.

[charby]

I found instructions for making it in the crockpot, so that's what going to happen!

Hopefully it gets the nice crust on the bottom and sides.

[K Frame]

OK, Jiffy Corn Casserole in the crock pot.

Needs to cook on low for 4 to 5 hours. This is the first time I'm making it, it's also the first time I'm trying crock pot liners. Hopefully they work. As for your comment on crust, Charby, I'm actually hoping that it doesn't form too much of a crust. I prefer my corn puddings to have a more pudding consistency. I guess I'm just getting ready for my "old man all food has to be soft" stage of life.

I'll be tossing the ham in the oven to start warming around 1 p.m. It's tempering on the counter right now.

I'm doing a box of stuffing to go along, and will steam my all-time favorite vegetable -- broccoli. It is a rare meal indeed that I don't have broccoli in one form or another.

[charby]

1.5 kilos (~3.25#) of 21 count shrimp was $280 pesos ($16 USD). Unfortunately no live shrimp available just heads off.

[K Frame]

Holy sweet mother of Dog this corn pudding smells awesome!

I'm sitting at my laptop, with the crockpot sitting right next to me on the side table, and I'm just drooling.

[Kingcreek]

I brined a small young turkey less than 10 pounds. It is reclining comfortably in a pit barrel over low charcoal. Another 3 hours…

[cordex]

I brined a small young turkey less than 10 pounds. It is reclining comfortably in a pit barrel over low charcoal. Another 3 hours…

I brined a 12 pounder last night and smoked it this morning.  Definitely do that again.

[K Frame]

OK, Charby, in answer to your question... yes. cooking the corn pudding in the crockpot does create a crust. I used a crockpot liner and it worked really well.

All in all, not a terrible Thanksgiving dinner for one human and one dog. Although the poor dog things that she didn't get nearly as much ham as she should have.

The ham dried out a bit more than I would have liked. It said to heat it at 325 for 15 minutes a pound... I misread the tag and overheated it and dried it out. It was a 13 pound ham, not an 18 pound ham. Oh well, it was still really good.

It was also a honey ham, and it wasn't sweet at all, so yeah, I'll be able to use the bone to make stock for ham and bean soup. YUM!

[Kingcreek]

My turkey in the pit barrel was awesome. Very juicy. I used a brine kit that my wife picked up at Costco. Bag, brine, and dry rub seasoning.

[K Frame]

Nice. I love a smoked turkey. I did one years ago for a party. It was a huge hit.

[cordex]

My brine was just water, salt, peppercorns, and a sliced lemon. My rub was about three tablespoons of salt, three tablespoons garlic powder, two tablespoons paprika, two tablespoons onion powder, and some black and cayenne pepper. I mixed it with softened butter and smeared the mess under the skin.

[Kingcreek]

I just followed the directions and rinsed after brine, patted dry, rubbed it with olive oil the applied the dry rub. It was in the pit barrel over low charcoal for almost 5 hours

[charby]

Good to hear it made a crust, that's my favorite part.

Thanksgiving potluck in Mexico was a success, mix of American and Mexican foods. Woo boy the natives can drink down there. I probably had six shots of tequila before I started the pot.

[BobR]

I have been brining and then smoking our turkey for years. Last year SWMBO wanted oven roasted so oven roasted it was. This year I decided to do a dry brine. Rub with oil and then kosher salt, whatever herbs you want and then uncovered in fridge for 36 hours before oven roasting. The only thing I added before cooking was some herbs and the carcasses from oranges I squeezed to get the juice for my cranberry sauce.This was one of the best turkeys I have ever had. I was quite surprised. I guess my smoker and Traeger will be doing stuff other than turkey from now on.

bob

[Ben]

I went through a turkey frying stage (hold my beer!), but never smoked one. I have been thinking about it, but some of the foodie websites I have read claim while smoked turkey is very good, that it doesn't pair well with traditional stuffing/gravy/cranberry sauce.

What do you turkey smokers think?

[BobR]

I went through a turkey frying stage (hold my beer!), but never smoked one. I have been thinking about it, but some of the foodie websites I have read claim while smoked turkey is very good, that it doesn't pair well with traditional stuffing/gravy/cranberry sauce.

What do you turkey smokers think?

I think that those foodie websites are full of shi, themselves. I smoked a couple of turkeys a year for many years and never thought there was an issue with standard sides. In fact, quite a few Traeger users have taken to doing their yams and stuffing in the smoker with the turkey. Depending on how you do your yams/potatoes you could do an initial cook in the smoker before finishing them up. I don't think I would go that far but I have no issues with standard sides pairing with a smoked turkey. For a really good (whole) cranberry sauce look up the recipe for Killer Cranberry Sauce. It works very well with smoked turkey or anything else where you want a sweet(ish) cranberry sauce.

bob

[charby]

I tend to buy 3 or 4 turkeys when they go on sale after Thanksgiving or Christmas, then smoke them in the summer. I serve them with traditional midwest bbq or picnic foods. Like coleslaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, jello fluff, etc.

[K Frame]

I agree, those foodie websites are FOS.

The only problem with smoking a turkey, from my viewpoint, is that you don't get to cook the stuffing in the turkey, which I love, and you don't get nice brown pan drippings to make gravy with.

There are ways around that, obviously, which is to oven roast a stuffed turkey (can NEVER have too much turkey!) for the stuffing and the fond. I've done that before.

You can also pan roast turkey necks and legs to start the gravy base, which is also something I've done before and which works well.

The biggest problem with cooking stuffing in or using pan drippings from a brined turkey is that it can get really salty really fast. You can get around that, at least partially, but holding back on the salt in the other dishes.

I've also found, if there's time, that slicing a potato thin and simmering it in the pan drippings helps remove some of the salt from the gravy. Or, you just dilute the gravy out with stock. You run the risk of thinning out the flavor of the gravy, but you can boost the flavor with spices, roasted vegetables, gravy brown, etc.

[Kingcreek]

I sometimes get leftover freezer turkeys on sale right after thanksgiving.
Gotta check Aldi when I’m in town this morning. If they have any they will be marked way down.