Thanksgiving Hangover

This year, my husband and I decided to spend Thanksgiving at home - just the two of us.  We figured we may never be able to do this again so why not have a meal to celebrate being thankful for each other.  The other thing is... I never get to host Thanksgiving and I really love to cook.  You can imagine how excited I was to plan and prepare my own dinner.  Thankfully, my husband is a good helper and we made the most fantastic meal together.

The first order of business is to get organized.  I'm notorious of taping my recipes to my cupboards.  Keeps them out of the way of spills and at eye level for me.  

Our menu for this Thanksgiving can be found in these links.

Rosemary Lemon Turkey 

Balsamic Vinegar Brussels Sprouts

Tarragon and White Wine Green Beans

As always, the first food to tackle was the bird.

Our bird's name was Timmy.  He was a big boy.  About 20 lbs.  We really really like leftover turkey.  Plus cooked poultry is good for two weeks... so 20 lbs goes a LONG way.

Preparing the lemon and rosemary basting sauce made our house smell so nice!  We used a little extra olive oil to ensure the bird would be juicy.  Worked like magic.  The skin tasted wonderful and it was so crispy!

Here's how we cooked it.

• Set oven to 400* F.  Let turkey roast for 45 min to an hour until brown.
• Reduce heat to 350*F.  Baste with olive oil mixture.  Add one cup of water to bottom of pan.
• Baste with from the bottom of the pan every 30 minutes.  Be sure to cover the entire turkey.  
• Follow the instructions that come with your turkey regarding the length of time needed to cook.  Ours came with the little red plug, so I waited for that to pop out.
• Once red plug pops out, or you have reached your cooking time, baste turkey one last time with olive oil mixture, add fresh lemon slices and rosemary to the pan and roast for 20 more minutes.
• Remove from oven, tent aluminum foil and let sit for 30 minutes.

We made 18 hard-boiled eggs for Deviled Eggs.  Don't worry, we didn't eat all 36 deviled eggs ourselves!  My Deviled Eggs are made with mayo, relish, salt, and pepper - all to taste.  Start with a little of each ingredient and keep adding little portions until the taste balances out to how you like it.  Top with paprika.

 My husband and I love Brussels Sprouts.  These were so amazing that we saved the recipe to make as a regular dinner side.

Now, to be honest, we weren't crazy about the tarragon green beans.  We love cooking with tarragon but it was a bit much in this dish.  However, I suggest cutting the suggested tarragon in half or eliminating it completely.  The white wine and the green bean pairing was outstanding!

 Every dinner needs bread.

 My wonderful husband carving his first turkey.  The turkey didn't need much carving though... the meat fell right off the bone.  That's what I'm talking about!!!  So delicious.

I hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  Onward to Christmas!!!