You are what you eat

So I'm going to be one stuffed turkey soon.

It all started about a month and a half ago when Man asked if he could invite some people from work over for Thanksgiving. Now, the military is a lot like elementary school: if you bring an invitation to school, you should bring enough invitations for everyone. But, since rank and a couple of other factors force some level of segregation among soldiers, I was spared the entire class of 30 and their families.

Instead, we invited about 14 people over. That's a lot of people for us.

Fortunately, only 7 or so took Man up on the invite. That's a number I can live with for sure. Man's sister and her husband are also going to be coming. We started playing with ideas for how to feed that sort of crowd. Mashed potatoes and corn are cheap, but pie and and eggnog are not. Ham is more expensive than turkey, but two turkeys would be hard to cook.

We decided to just bite the bullet and make two turkeys, because I've seen soldiers eat. It isn't dirty or anything, just shocking quantities scamper down those eager gullets, and these soldiers all live in the barracks so they don't get home cooking. Ever.

The turkeys have been thawing in the fridge since this past Friday, because when you brine a large bird you have to start taking action about 156 hours before the fact. Today I made up two different brines (apple brine and maple brine -- I use a mere fraction of the sugar called for. it's much better that way) and I was busy giving the larger of the two birds (Herman) a bit of a bath in the sink to clean him up before his beauty sleep. Plunging my hand into his body cavity to search for stray ice, I managed to create a Death Juice Geyser that soaked my shirt and the head of the baby standing at my feet. Her glowing eyes crinkled as she grinned at my fun new game. She smiled and screamed "baaaah!!"

I used my stockpot for Herman and my very large pressure cooker for Hermione, putting them both in turkey sized oven bags before adding their spa treatment. I'm glad we got the large sized fridge.

I've already got the topping for the peach crisp waiting in the fridge ( with the addition of fresh ground nutmeg and a tiny dash of ginger), and the vanilla ice cream is standing by. Gravy, of course, will be drippings, flour, and fresh ground black pepper.

Sweet potatoes, steamed corn, peas and mushrooms, and mashed potatoes represent the veggie group, and homemade cranberry sauce is imperative for Man's turkey eating experience. Hot rolls will sort of fill in the corners and mop up plates.

Dessert is that peach crisp, brownies, and Paula Deen's pumpkin gingerbread trifle.

This is the original OAMC (once a month cooking) marathon cooking session.

A couple of days ago, after all the sweet potatoes had been purchased and the turkeys were already thawing, Man let me know that we'd only be having 3 of the guys over.

So, I guess we'll be having more leftovers than I thought. At least I won't have to buy groceries until the next time we move.