Turkey

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving break this past weekend! Instead of just having Asian food as always, this year was the first time my family decided to host a traditional Thanksgiving gathering, complete with things like mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet potato souffle, pumpkin and pecan pie, and a 17 pound Turkey.

The turkey was from Whole Foods and we followed the given instructions for cook time and temperature. However, none of us had ever cooked a whole turkey before and we were afraid it would turn out too dry... which it unfortunately did. 

No worries though. I did some research in preparation for next year's bird and learned that we did not do one key step for moist, tender meat - letting it rest. Everywhere I've read said after taking the turkey out of the oven, let it rest about 30 minutes. Resting redistributes the juices and makes for smooth carving. 

Now, I have a bag of leftover, dry turkey meat that will last me the rest of the week. We'll try again next Thanksgiving!

Please enjoy this picture of a turkey that turned out right for us; the fruit platter.