Shiny Turkey

You know those oven roasting bags?  Reynolds makes them, I think.  They come in different sizes including a turkey size.  And for whatever reason they come two to a bag.  Guess what I have left over?  That’s right, I’ve found an unused turkey bag from the first year that I tried to make Thanksgiving dinner.  

The year was 1991 and I was living in an apartment with a roommate.  We had a group of friends  and we all hung out together.  Some of us worked together but we all lived in the same apartment complex and we were all the same age, roughly.  We very rarely knocked on each other’s doors and you could always find a group of us in one apartment or another.  We were like Friends before the series really took off.  For some reason our apartment was a favorite.  It was like everyone’s buzz den.  Which was fine with us.  Mostly no one left the place in a mess.  We just gathered there and ate and smoked pot and drank.  Sometimes people crashed on our couch and that was okay too.  I’m not sure if I was just young enough to not care or if we had a really great group.  

This particular year the week before Thanksgiving one of the guys who lived upstairs won a frozen turkey from work.  This happened to work out perfectly because  we were sitting around bemoaning having to attend our various families’ upcoming functions.  He was wondering what the hell he was going to do with a turkey he couldn’t cook and we decided to do our own Thanksgiving.  I was nominated to cook and my roommate was going to make homemade bread.    We would all put in money toward the groceries and hang our on Thanksgiving together and have our own celebration.  The best laid plans of mice and men....

So around 10am we start gathering.  We watch the Macy’s parade and eat powered sugar donuts while consuming irish coffee.  We were also hitting the Papa Bear bong (no seriously, it was the cutest damn thing...you put the bowl in it’s belly button, it had a carb in the back and you smoked out of its head).  By the time the parade was over we were feeling righteous.  

Armed with the recipe that my mother gave me and an oven roasting bag I prepped the turkey and stuffed it in the bag.  Into the oven it went.  My roommate made a beautiful loaf of hommade bread and when she went to bake it she opened the oven door and said (I will not forget it to this day.....) “Wow, that turkey sure is SHINY”.  My response was a shrug and something along the lines of how its supposed to be shiny because it’s juicy.  Then the following conversation ensued: 

Her “I thought you put the turkey in a bag.” 

Me  “I did put the turkey in a bag.”  

Her“Okay, but there’s no bag”

Me “Of course there is.  It didn’t just disappear.  You helped me put the turkey in the bag.”

Her “No, really....come look.”

Friends and neighbors, have you ever wondered why the instruction to add two tablespoons of flour and use it to coat the inside of the baking bag is there?  If so, let me clear that up for you.  It is to prevent the plastic bag from melting to your bird.  I completely missed it and failed to do so.  Inside my oven was the most beautiful, shiny turkey you’ve ever seen.  Think laminated.  

Obviously we couldn’t eat it that way.  We did have some yummy sides and homemade bread but the turkey was a bust.  We all had a good laugh about it and strangely enough no one asked me to cook again. 

So with that story told, it has prompted me to create my own blog award.  I’m creating the Shiny Turkey Blog Award.

 Initially I thought that this award would have to go with a story of CWI (cooking while intoxicated) but then I realized that not everyone drank....or cooked, much less at the same time.  So, instead, when accepting this award you share with us a funny story that involves any of these elements “food, intoxication, kitchen, cooking/baking, or holidays”.  And pass it on to 3-5 other deserving bloggers that you want to hear more from.  

Not trying to overthink my importance to the blogging community but I did think it would be fun.  So without further ado,  my award recipients are.....

StephGas at it's never too late to save a hopeless case because I know she cooks and drinks, although I think she may not do them at the same time.  

SSW at The Anonymous Perils of a Single Southern Woman because I bet she has a good story

Mynx at Dribble because I love the awards she's thinking of creating and wouldn't dream of stealing her thunder.  

and finally.....

Sam at Rot du Jour just because I want to hear her story too.  I bet she's got one. 

And so as not to be remiss my ABC's of thankfulness - 

K - Kisses.  I am thankful for slow, passionate kissed from Darling Husband and sweet kisses from my kids and kisses from friends that I haven't seen in a while and those that I see all the time.  I love kisses.  

L - Love.  I'm thankful for love.  The love that I receive from others and the love that flows through me to send out.  I'm thankful that I'm learning, finally, that I am both worthy to receive and capable of giving love.  

M - Money.  I am thankful that we have the money we need to take care of our family.  We don't have any extra most of the time but we do have what we need.  

N - Nature.  I'm thankful for the colored trees and the beauty that surrounds us.  It reminds me that God cares for us that much.  If he didn't he wouldn't bother with the technicolors of life.  

O - Open heart.  I am thankful that I have an open heart to feel and express emotions readily and to give and receive Love.