[Juletones]

Who's deep frying? Why is this a big craze these past years?

Men. The fellas get involved and next thing you know, our turkeys are being cooked outside in the driveway next to a fire extinguisher!

Then...we cook absolutely everything else, set the table, and clean up the whole mess and who gets the accolades? The dude with the vat of oil outside.


I say, put my turkey back in the oven! If the fellas want to get involved, they can help clean up.




....I"m just kidding...mostly. The only thing I'm officially in charge of is pies this year, and believe me, it's for the best.


So how's your turkey being cooked this year?

[MaggieMae]

TOO FUNNY!!!!!

Since there are now 20 of us to feed we now need 2 birds...last year we tried feeding everyone with 1 (26 pounder) and it was stuffed into the oven so tightly that it took an extra 3 hours to cook. Alas, this year we will put one stuffed(20 pounder) in the oven and 1 (20 pounder) on the back porch in a propane cooker with a beer in it's &$#*. (DH's lovely machine)
Ya know he was jonesin for a deep fryer this year but nah.

[candlefan]

I'm just having a quiet Thanksgiving here at home with my husband and kids. I plan to spend the morning in my pajamas, cooking and watching the parades on television. I plan to roast my traditional spice-rubbed turkey as usual.

But one year when we traveled out of state to join relatives, my brother-in-law fried up a cajun-injected turkey that was just to die for-- soooooo good! Honestly, I never imagined it would taste so good.

I don't think I would want to invest in a turkey fryer though. For one thing, unless you go in on the oil with other neighbors, which my brother-in-law does, it can be sort of expensive to buy and complicated to dispose of. And I think it would be sort of gross to try to save it for later use.

And, frankly, we would probably just manage to set our garage on fire for all our efforts!

[Aria]

Jules, I am with you and have no interest in frying my turkey. I can think of about a million other things I'd rather have than a turkey fryer. I roast mine the traditional way and always get raves. I like Honeysuckle White. DH does all the carving since I hate doing it!

[Juletones]

Ooooh the parades. We watch them on t.v. every year. Love it.

[mpfand]

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year (8 adults and 5 kids) but my mom is bringing the turkey. I do believe it's deep fried, but Paula Deene already did all the hard work. All I have to do is stick it in the oven and heat it up alongside the spiral cut ham I bought. I wouldn't want my turkey deep fried outside. Leave the grilling to the men and let us take care of everything else!

[Juletones]

Mpfand, mm mmm, love the spiral cut ham.

The guys have taken over the turkey cooking around here. It's so funny. My SIL hosts and you should see all the guys standing out by the garage gathered around the deep fryer thingy. Then they proudly bring in the turkey with great fanfare.




I must say, it IS delicious. The guys do a fine job of it all. I miss the tradition of the oven roasted turkey, but the whole holiday is still all about togetherness and thankfulness, friends and family. That hasn't changed.

It's a fun day.


Does anyone make a specialty dish that the family asks for every year? It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without....___________.

[sweet&spiceygrl]

MaggieMae, on 16 November 2010 - 04:17 PM, said:

Alas, this year we will put one stuffed(20 pounder) in the oven and 1 (20 pounder) on the back porch in a propane cooker with a beer in it's &$#*. (DH's lovely machine)

MaggieMae - I've heard of beer can chicken (it's supposed to be delish!), but for a big ol turkey...won't U need a 6-pack?

Juletones, on 17 November 2010 - 01:05 AM, said:

Does anyone make a specialty dish that the family asks for every year? It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without....___________.

Celery stuffed with cheez whiz. Hey.....I like that combo!
Seriously... everyone looks forward to the pumpkin pie. It's got a ring of pecans/butter/brown sugar around the outer edge. Yum. After having dinner at my house for the last 38 years my sis is hosting instead of me this year. Now, I'll get to watch the parades in the morning! I've never had deep fried turkey, so I'd like to try it. Feel free to send me leftovers.

[MaggieMae]

sweet&spiceygrl, on 17 November 2010 - 02:02 AM, said:

MaggieMae - I've heard of beer can chicken (it's supposed to be delish!), but for a big ol turkey...won't U need a 6-pack?

Hey...You might be right on that one!

I always make the apple pie & bring the cider from the local farm...and my Dad ALWAYS makes chestnuts.(Even though the average person eats them on Christmas)

[cookielady]

My dad always does the turkey on the grill, sort of like smoking it. My mom loves that she doesn't have to do that. Each of us brings a dish also, so my mom doesn't have to do all of it. Happy Turkey Day to everyone.

[Stardustgirl]

We're going with a locally grown turkey this year. We picked it up frozen last weekend, but they offer the option to get a fresh one on the farm on Wednesday (we didn't do that because it's an hour north and the weather is unpredictable).

It looks a lot different than the ones at the grocery. It's more evenly-built, not a Dolly Parton-esque bird. I'm looking forward to seeing how the flavor differs from the other kind. I could taste a huge improvement over the factory farmed birds when we started getting this family's chickens.

And I'm hoping to avoid a replay of Thanksgiving 2008 when the heating element in the oven exploded mid-turkey-roasting.