Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving

Because I am a genius, I volunteered to host a Thanksgiving Potluck for the other newbies at ISB. Thankfully, I only had about 16 people RSVP- but still 16 people! So I went to the store and bought the smallest turkey I could find. After all, I knew I had some vegetarians and they don't count when calculating how much turkey one needs. So I buy the turkey, the woman weights it and I do the math in my head... I had just purchased a 9.1 kilo turkey. For you folks unfamiliar with the metric system 9.1x2.2= a FUCKLOAD of turkey (20.02 pounds, to be exact).

So I had my groceries delivered that night.I don't know about you, but I was not about to bike with all that stuff. Plus, there is no way all of it would have fit in my bike basket. Into the fridge it went to defrost for a few days...

I pulled it out on Thursday so that I could pre-cook it 3/4 of the way, carve it and then finish cooking it on Friday before my guests arrived. This would save us from eating at 11:00 at night on Friday. After all, we still had to work. Yep, that's right, no 4 day weekend for us! So I made an herbed butter and slathered that baby down- on the skin and under the skin--- nobody wants a dry turkey! Here's what the beast looked like in my oven.

Now yes, I do have a smaller oven than those in the states. but IT TOOK UP MY WHOLE FREAKIN OVEN! I couldn't use my roasting rack because it make the bird too close to the top of my oven. So I had to improvise and use rolled up aluminum foil. No judging people, my father usually just fries the stupid turkey for Thanksgiving. Also, I would like to see you lift and move a 20 pound bird by yourself. 



This is what it looked like when done. I got a little excited and started carving before I remembered to take a picture, so you only get to see the non-carved half. Looks good, doesn't it? It was, I assure you.


And just to prove that I am actually certifiable, I make a pumpkin cheesecake with some of that pumpkin puree that I had made previously. I was also tasty. There is no pretty picture of this one, as soon as I pulled away the barrier, it was attacked. So enjoy what you can. 

Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving! Happy belated Turkey day from Beijing!

No comments:

Post a Comment