10:30 AM: The best thing about getting an 8 lb turkey is that you don't need to wake up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving to start cooking it. The first task of the day (post-coffee, while watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) was to make a compound butter for the turkey, this one with chopped thyme. Every chef I spoke to for advice about how to cook a wild turkey told me to use plenty of butter on the lean breasts.
11 AM: You may be saying to yourself, "What is she doing with that dead bat?" or "Why is her turkey anorexic?" Never fear, this is perfectly normal physiognomy for a wild turkey, which I might remind you is in fact a
bird, and therefore built to
fly. Note that he or she is built like a marathoner, with long, lean legs, a protruding breast bone, and teeny tiny (A-cup!) breasts.
11:30 AM: On to the stuffing. This one contains white sandwich bread (cubed and dried for an hour in a low oven), sausage, fennel, granny smith apples, sage, thyme, onion, celery, stock, and butter.
12:30 PM: What's missing from this picture? Our turkey's legs, which have been removed and will be braised separately in stock and white wine (which, incidentally, becomes the perfect base for a gravy). Legless turkey is now smeared with butter and ready to go into its 275 degree oven. Legless turkey will be basted, from time to time, with a mixture of melted butter and chicken stock.
3 PM: No Thanksgiving is complete without an appearance by butternut squash. Mine is sprinkled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary, and roasted. It's then drizzled with a dressing of grain mustard, olive oil, and cider vinegar before serving.
4 PM: After 3.5 hours, legless turkey had reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees and was removed from the oven to rest before carving. I'm aware that this photo of legless turkey listing to one side next to a glass of champagne makes legless turkey look drunk. Teehee.
4:45 PM: Our holiday table, courtesy of my mother, who has a knack for such things.
5 PM: Thanksgiving dinner just seconds before it was devoured by the hungry cook: wild turkey, Brussels sprouts with bacon, roasted butternut squash, stuffing with sausage, fennel, and apples, and gravy. Mmmmmm.
10:30 AM: The best thing about getting an 8 lb turkey is that you don't need to wake up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving to start cooking it. The first task of the day (post-coffee, while watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) was to make a compound butter for the turkey, this one with chopped thyme. Every chef I spoke to for advice about how to cook a wild turkey told me to use plenty of butter on the lean breasts. 
11 AM: You may be saying to yourself, "What is she doing with that dead bat?" or "Why is her turkey anorexic?" Never fear, this is perfectly normal physiognomy for a wild turkey, which I might remind you is in fact a bird, and therefore built to fly. Note that he or she is built like a marathoner, with long, lean legs, a protruding breast bone, and teeny tiny (A-cup!) breasts.
11:30 AM: On to the stuffing. This one contains white sandwich bread (cubed and dried for an hour in a low oven), sausage, fennel, granny smith apples, sage, thyme, onion, celery, stock, and butter.
12:30 PM: What's missing from this picture? Our turkey's legs, which have been removed and will be braised separately in stock and white wine (which, incidentally, becomes the perfect base for a gravy). Legless turkey is now smeared with butter and ready to go into its 275 degree oven. Legless turkey will be basted, from time to time, with a mixture of melted butter and chicken stock.
3 PM: No Thanksgiving is complete without an appearance by butternut squash. Mine is sprinkled with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary, and roasted. It's then drizzled with a dressing of grain mustard, olive oil, and cider vinegar before serving.
4 PM: After 3.5 hours, legless turkey had reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees and was removed from the oven to rest before carving. I'm aware that this photo of legless turkey listing to one side next to a glass of champagne makes legless turkey look drunk. Teehee.
4:45 PM: Our holiday table, courtesy of my mother, who has a knack for such things.
5 PM: Thanksgiving dinner just seconds before it was devoured by the hungry cook: wild turkey, Brussels sprouts with bacon, roasted butternut squash, stuffing with sausage, fennel, and apples, and gravy. Mmmmmm.
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