Time for Turkey

America's Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner. I know it may seem daunting that this year of 'separate but together' we have to make our own things. Let's break it down into sections. 

One of the things to consider is that instead of having "all" of the sides that you would have at a large gathering, that you pick a few that you can eat that day,  and with leftovers. 

We usually travel to The Mike's family for Thanksgiving. We've already decided to stay home and safe for several reasons: we don't feel comfortable eating inside with the masks off in an intimate space, and we live in a county where the positivity rate is currently 26.4%. That's like an ultra marathon by numbers--and not a marathon I want to be a part of.  I also worked the election and while I had on my mask and face shield, I did help people do curbside voting who had tested positive for Covid.  

For a practice meal, I made a turkey breast, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. When I was growing up, mom would make turkey (or ham, whichever we had won at the Church's Turkey Bingo), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing/dressing, and a butternut squash.  We would also have green beans, or sometimes (rarely) the green bean casserole. It turns out that while several of us like cream of mushroom soup, we don't actually like green bean casserole!  

Another tip is to make a list of what you want to make and serve, and the time it takes to cook, at what temperature, and if it needs to be cooled (pumpkin pie) or served warm. 

One thing that The Mike thought of a few years ago was to prep a lot of things the day before and just reheat on Thanksgiving day. Mashed potatoes or yams can go in a crockpot the day of to reheat.  Rolls can be baked ahead of time and put in the oven for just a few minutes to reheat/warm. 


First I purchased a single turkey breast from the grocer. (Sometimes in larger metro areas you can find half a bird and get the dark and white meat).  The local store has a brand that is just turkey, no additions that may be questionable with gluten or soy allergies. Best to call the packager to find out what they add to their turkeys. I've made these calls from the store before. Let people look and wonder what, but it also spreads awareness of what should be on the package, and that it's okay to ask these questions!  

I did a small amount of a brine for the turkey breast to help it keep in the juices. I used Alton Brown's version as it has worked well for us with a whole turkey before. When we have done a whole turkey, we used a new, well cleaned (before and after) insulated cooler for the turkey and brine..  I used a small kitchen container for this and submerged it. 

Salt, brown sugar, pepper, allspice, candied ginger. I used water instead of vegetable stock for this.
I let it soak for 15 hours in the refrigerator. 

The next day I got the rub ready to go:  sage, thyme, shallots, parlsey, pepper and salt. Since I was only doing a turkey breast, I used roughly a pinch of the seasonings.  

I used all dry because that's what realistically most people have on hand. Fresh is nice, not buying extra things at this time is nice too. 

After putting in a small container I ground together to break up the shallots and also mix the flavors together. If you don't have a mortar/pestle you can use the back of a spoon. 

Then I added a splash of olive oil and a Tablespoon of butter. 
If you need to make this dairy free, you can just use olive oil and not butter. 

Mixed together. 

Remove the turkey /breast from the brine and pat dry. The skin is already a little separated from the meat.  

Using your clean hands, spread the seasoning mixture under the skin of the turkey. 

I then set the turkey in a pan atop sliced onion, a cinnamon stick broken in half, and sliced apple. (best time to use that apple you forgot at the back of your fridge and that got a little wrinkled--I'm not the only one that has one of those, right?). 

Baked at 350F x 90 minutes. 

If you're going to make the dressing (recipe I will share in another post), that needs to bake for 30 minutes. Thus, 30 minutes before the turkey is to be done, place the stuffing/dressing in the oven. 

Put on a warm platter and then covered with foil to let rest for 10 minutes.  

Warm the plate with hot water before putting hot food on, to avoid 'crazing'/ cracking in the china. 

After removing the foil, you will see just a little bit of juice. This is because we brined, so the meat kept in the moisture instead of releasing a lot of moisture. This is good for a juicy turkey, but bad for wanting juices/drippings to make gravy. 

Served with stuffing/dressing and cranberry sauce. (which I will share in a separate post), and the appetizer snack of sliced bell peppers. 

**One thing that made me spazz out happened in 2012. Mom's last Thanksgiving.  It was a giant turkey: 22# [that my aunt had raised that year] was done before anyone expected it to be. Several of us chipped in, got out the crock pots we had all brought, and I carved the giant bird into sections. Each breast went in separate crockpots with some turkey broth, and the legs and thighs went into another crockpot with turkey broth. We were worried, but they were SO juicy. Maybe it was an organic/free range bird, or maybe it was the brine, or a combination of that and the crockpot with juices. My aunt had ordered the turkey chicks, but didn't get them sent to the processor when it was suggested, so all of the turkeys were much larger than expected.