Turkey

Happy Shrove Tuesday! We were supposed to go to church for a Shrove Tuesday Mardi Gras celebration tonight- dinner included- but due to lots of snow and me feeling icky, we skipped out. While it would have been a great time, I know that I wouldn't have eaten anywhere near on plan.

So instead, I made a turkey... it was 'scheduled' for last Thursday. I've had this bird sitting in my fridge since I brought it home a week ago, and figured I'd better make it soon. If you've never made a whole turkey, IT ISN'T HARD. I make one every Thanksgiving, and I usually make one at Christmas, too. Today I just tossed it into the roaster, added some juices and spices, and let it go... it was done cooking by about 3:00. (A fully thawed turkey only takes about 3-4 hours to cook. I have no idea why my grandmother used to get up at 5 AM to start the turkey.)

I pulled it out and pulled off the meat, then decided to try something I've never done before- make turkey stock with the carcass. I put the carcass/bones/random scraps of meat into my stock pot, filled the thing with water, and let it boil. I lowered the temperature and covered it, and am going to let it simmer at least until I go to bed. This gal suggests letting it simmer overnight!

The bowl of turkey meat, covered in juices, went into the fridge to wait for dinner... when it was served with the remaining sweet potato fries from last night.

A nice Core dinner. It was so simple to prepare, and pretty tasty, too.