My First Thanksgiving Attempt

This year is pretty much the first time I've had to much more than show up in stretchy pants for Thanksgiving.  I was determined to learn how to prepare all the holiday fixings and my family was trusting enough to actually go for it.  They are brave people.  Luckily I eased into holiday hosting with a small group of four mouths to feed. 

These are my groceries for those four mouths.  I can't imagine what it would look like if four times the people were coming.  Luckily I was able to score several Albertson's Cuisinart Stamps.  It helped lesson the blow of the total I spent. 

After pouring over cook books and magazines, I picked my Turkey recipe.  With only four people, I opted for a 7 lb turkey breast over a full bird.  Southern Living had a great recipe for grilled turkey and that sounded right up my alley. 

Once my menu was set I made actual menus...because I'm cheesey like that and because in my family, presentation is 90% of a meal's overall score. 

After getting way too intimate with my turkey, I threw that puppy on the grill for 2.5 hours.  Set it and forget it!  Actually I had to keep double checking the temp on the grill after it turned itself off an hour into the process and nearly gave me a heartattack.

Valuable lesson learned this Thanksgiving:  Do not touch a meat thermometer with you bare fingers.  They are hot.  You will be burned. 

TA-DA!  The turkey turned out perfect!  My carving skills might not be up to par yet, but it still looked great and tasted even better.  It was juicy and had a great flavor!  Once I put it at the centerpiece of our table, I'm pretty confident I earned all 90% of presentation points available.

Not to brag, but I'm pretty sure I scored at least 8 of the remaining 10 points for the taste of my meal.  Tune in tomorrow when I tell the heartbreaking story of why I will never be a professional pie maker.