As we try to get back into routines and work off holiday excesses, my roommates and I have a little extra turkey to try and work off.
We decided to make a turkey supper with all the fixings before we all went our separate ways for the holidays.
The one rule was that our roommate, Aline, the one who would have some idea of what she was doing, wouldn't be able to help with the meal. She offered to make the desserts, so it was just up to the three guys.
Since she picked up a shift at the hospital, it was truly up to Kody (Goat Cheese), Nick and myself to have bird and everything else ready when she got home.
Before turkey day, Kody and I went shopping for supplies. After getting a general list from my mom we were on our way.
We were doing fine in the store until we got to the turkey buying part.
The first bird we looked at was obviously the biggest in the store and was $71. We both looked at each other and thought maybe a turkey supper wasn't needed this year.
We moved on and found another batch of turkeys more in our $15 price range. We loaded it up and were good to go.
After trying to defrost the turkey in the garage (our garage is colder than a freezer during winter) we realized that wasn't the best way to do things. Eventually we solved the problem and had it ready to go.
We woke up around 11 a.m., or should I say, I woke up and dragged them out of bed, and turkey day began. When I say dragged them out of bed I literally mean it. Kody was lying on the floor wrapped in his blanket in the hallway and from a lack of energy I felt it necessary to drag him and the blanket to the kitchen. I may have accidentally banged his head into the wall in the process, but he was awake then.
Once we were all awake and ready to start this process we had to gut the turkey.
Both Nick and Kody are outdoorsmen so through fishing and hunting - gutting an animal wasn't that big of a deal. Nick went at the turkey, but he went at it from the wrong end, the instruction didn't really clarify that detail.
Eventually we got it turned around and it was a lot less effort required to gut the bird than we anticipated.
Next, was to stuff the bird and that went well. After a quick phone call to mom I got instructions on how to make stuffing and we added a bit extra just cause we could and eventually got all the stuffing inside.
For those who don't believe me and thought we used Stovetop this is the list of ingredients: a loaf of bread that was drying the day before, fried onions and celery, butter, seasoning and raisins, just because we had an old bag around the house.
We turned on the oven and the first step was over, next was to go out and buy a baster since that step would come later in the day.
After we went our separate ways for the day we returned back to kitchen in the afternoon and were ready to get to work. Kody was on vegetables, I made the salad and basted the turkey just like the Google instructions said every 20 minutes and let's just say Nick supervised and was the bartender.
Eventually it was time to start the potatoes and after Kody and I peeled a pot full of potatoes, and our fingers a few times, we had them boiling on the stove.
By this time we decided to get in the Christmas theme. Nick put on his Santa toque, Kody put on his hat that bobs and sings and I put on my women's Christmas sweater. I bought the sweater at a thrift store a week earlier for a steal of a deal - $5.99 on a purple ticket meaning it was half of that and just in my budget.
Back to the feast. Kody was still working on the vegetables since he must have thought we were feeding three dozen rabbits for Christmas.
We pulled the turkey out. It was time to get the stuffing out of the bird. Nick went to work on that and since stuffing is my favourite part we had to make sure we got it all out. Since we couldn't see if we got all of it, I ran out to the garage and grabbed a flashlight. Nothing was getting left behind. I held the flashlight and Nick got in all the corners and we had a bowl full of dressing.
Nick then stripped down and started carving the bird. Talk about excitement, he was amazed at how well my parents' hand-me-down electric knife works.
I went to work on gravy and we had some outside help from a guest with mashed potatoes.
With four people doing their thing in the kitchen things were coming together.
We also started warming up some corn and beans in a pot and I whipped up some vegetable dip from whatever was in the fridge to go with Kody's masterpiece.
Kody was finally done with the vegetables. At least we would have dressing, a marinated salad, vegetables and dip and the cookies and muffins and squares Aline made the day before with her sister.
While Nick was still carving the bird, my gravy quickly turned from a liquid to a solid as I mixed it in the roaster. Turns out it takes a minute or two for the flour to thicken and if you keep adding flour quickly that isn't the best strategy.
Nick finally had the turkey carved since there was no suitable platter in our cupboards, he filled two big Tupperware containers with the bird. Not even my grandpa would've wanted the bones to make soup with since Nick picked off every piece that looked remotely like turkey off the carcass.
Next, I sampled the corn to make sure it was warm and sure enough it was the perfect temperature to burn my tongue.
The potatoes were also ready and we had to adjust the racks in the oven to get everything in there and keep it warm while the final touches were made.
Finally I conceded to the thick gravy after beating it with a wired whisk, which was doing nothing but injuring my arm and working up a sweat. The gravy tasted fine and we didn't have to worry about it running into the salad. You didn't pour this gravy - you scooped it.
Next was open a bottle of wine and we were ready enjoy.
Not so fast. We didn't have a corkscrew, well we did have a corkscrew, we just didn't know where it was.
Back to the garage we went and out came the drill and hammer. Nick put a screw in the cork, laid on the floor and Amanda, another guest with some outside help, attempted to pull the cork out with a hammer. Maybe it was a sign that we shouldn't have wine, but after several attempts we didn't really listen to the sign. The cork eventually came out.
There you have it turkey supper made from scratch by three guys who's specialties are mushroom soup, grilled cheese and scrambled eggs.
It amazed us how one grandma could prepare an entire meal for a houseful of people. Two of us wouldn't have been able to do it and the outside assists also really helped. Not that anything was ready at the same time, but besides the mashed gravy it was awesome.
It was delicious and we finally polished off the leftovers just this week. And, since no one needed to be rushed to the hospital, we are calling this supper a major success.
Trent's Turkey Supper Tips
1.Don't gut the turkey from the neck cavity. Using the rear end is much quick and effective.
2. Spend the extra $1.50 on the turkey baster. The top of the $1 baster seems to fall off way too often.
3. Keep your house corkscrew in the same spot. This helps avoid using power tools, but if you know our house you know the power tools are bound to come out some time.
4. Keep you phone close so you can call your mom and get the directions for the next step of the meal.
5. Don't use too much gravy thickener. Turns out that stuff works better then you think.
6. If the corn is steaming, don't sample a whole spoonful. Burning you tongue minutes before eating turkey supper isn't as good as the turkey supper without a burned tongue.
7. If you're going to claim the buns were homemade get rid of the plastic bag you bought them in.
