Thanksgiving 2011 OR Diary of a Turkey Virgin

This Thanksgiving was a day of firsts:

our first Thanksgiving in Colorado, 

our first visitors (Z's parents & brother from NC), 

our first time hosting the meal, 

and my first time cooking a turkey.

As a long-time vegetarian 

I was a little nervous about cooking a 

Thanksgiving turkey, 

but as a food/cooking enthusiast, 

I felt up to the challenge.

I decided not to take any chances with a frozen turkey

and ordered a fresh one from our local market.

Then I searched online for recipes.

After reading that brining is the best way to avoid

dry meat, I settled on a recipe from

The Pioneer Woman.

Hard to go wrong with her

(unless you are on a diet).

So the brine was made and the turkey guts pulled out

(I didn't use them in the gravy, so I just tossed them out), 

but then there was the little problem of 

finding a brining bag.

I could not find them in any grocery stores.

A couple of specialty food stores had them, 

but they were outrageously priced, 

so I had to be resourceful.

I bought some Ziploc XL bags (10 gallons)

poured in my brine & my 11 lb turkey, 

then fit it all into my biggest stockpot, cinched it

with a chip bag clip & let it soak overnight.

Thankfully it fit perfectly, so I didn't have to turn it!

I also made the cranberry sauce &

chocolate caramel tart ahead.

Thanksgiving morning, 

with the turkey thoroughly rinsed & the potatoes cubed, 

we headed over to watch Z run in the Turkey Trot.

It was a glorious 65 degrees & sunny, 

which was great for the spectators but too warm for the runners.

A very Parris Thanksgiving.

Back at home, we had to get down to business.

Z & his brother baked a pumpkin pie from scratch

while I got the turkey going and worked on the 

fontina & parmesan potato casserole.

Here's the turkey part-way through.

Unfortunately since I was keeping so busy

basting the turkey, making the casserole, 

brown sugar shortbread, brussels sprouts, & raspberry tea, 

I didn't have much time to take pictures, 

but believe me, that bird was golden brown in the end.

The set up was a little crazy, too. 

We don't have any real eating area in our place, 

so the plan was to set up two tables

and all 9 chairs that we own in the living room & 

use the side table as a buffet.

It actually worked well, but since everyone was gathered 

in the living room watching football we didn't get to set it up

until right before we ate, so again I failed to take any good photos.

This gives you an idea, but it actually looked much cozier & pretty.

Some friends of ours brought some delicious sweet potato casserole, 

2 types of dressing, and Z's cousin brought the rolls.

I really enjoyed cooking everything, and aside from

an issue with the gravy (really hard to season something properly

when you can't taste it...oh well) I thought I did pretty well...

for a turkey virgin.

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, too!