Thanksgiving Feast

Savannah's school has a 'Thanksgiving Feast' and invited all the parents, siblings, grandparents and other family members to attend. The students from all the classes in the school gather in the school gym to enjoy this 'feast' with their families and school friends. The parents of each student are assigned part of the meal to bring and all the food is put out together, buffet style. Basically, each class is responsible for an entire Thanksgiving meal to feed their class plus the families, but it is all put out on the table together with the foods from every class.

I saw that most parents in Savannah's class were assigned to bring 3 cans of a certain vegetable. I, however, was asked by her teacher a week before the feast if I would be willing to bring the turkey.

Without hesitation, I agreed.

Then I was told I would need to bake and carve it, too.

::: Blank stare :::

I did not have the slightest idea on how to do this, but the teacher encouraged me saying "it's easy, you have wait for the little thing to pop out of the turkey indicating it is fully cooked."

I thought, oh yeah, I've seen 'that little thing' so this can't be that hard. 

I bought a big 14 pound frozen turkey and stuck it in our spare freezer, not giving it a second thought until the day before the feast. For those of you who know anything about baking a turkey, you probably know that it takes 4-5 days to defrost a turkey that size. Well, I did not know this.

When I got the turkey out of the freezer at 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon to read the directions is when I realized I needed another option. Luckily, you can also defrost a turkey in cold water and it only takes 9-10 hours. 

What!? I don't have that much time!

I did the best with the time I had, but only let it defrost until about 8 p.m. {5 hours} and then followed what Alton Brown said via You Tube. Bake the turkey for 30 minutes at 500 degrees to get the skin nice and golden. Then, place foil over the breast of the turkey and stick it back in the over for 3+ hours at 350 degrees. 

So far, this is easy.

At 11:30 p.m., I took the turkey out and it looked so prefect! But, I ran into a problem. This turkey didn't have one of those 'little things' that pop out when the turkey is fully cooked. I searched my entire kitchen and couldn't find a meat thermometer {pretty sure I've never owned or used one} and it was way too late to call a neighbor. So Caleb help me and we decided to cut a leg off and see how things looked. 

Ummm, it was bright pink. No where near done. 

What to do now? It's nearly midnight and the turkey has to go to school with Savannah at 9 a.m. Together, Caleb and I decided to cover the turkey, stick in the fridge and go to bed. We would set an alarm for 6:30 a.m., pop the turkey back in the oven for 1-2 hours and have just enough time to carve it before taking the kids to school.

Who doesn't cook a turkey in two rounds like this? haha. Definitely not ideal, but hey, it worked! The turkey looked and tasted great! 

I have a great time with Savannah and her school friends at their feast. There was a ton of food and dessert. All so yummy!

Do you like Savannah's top? I made that! =)

 Savannah and Ranly. Ranly always shys away when the camera comes out.

After we finished eating, we went over to pick up Hudson from his school. 

 I have SO much to be thankful for and these two cuties are at the top of the list!