visions of five-am-wake-up-calls, endless trips across the house to baste, dry breasts and mushy stuffing haunt my Thanksgiving nightmares.  as a new bride, i was terrified to host my first family holiday because i was sure i would repeat the culinary mishaps of one family member or fail miserably to live up to the brilliance of another. i got through it, but i confess, i’ve only made a handful of “real turkeys” in my years of keeping my own home.  till now.

 

it’s not even the holidays yet, so why would i attempt this of my own free will?  the turketarian campaign has got me trying all sorts of turkey recipes, and when i saw the words maple, cranberry, and pan-gravy, i had to give the recipe a go.

it wasn’t a bit hard.  i felt like such a grown-up pulling out the insides (um, there may or may not have been an issue with knowing to do this on a years-earlier occasion resulting in the loss of a turkey.  an entire turkey.)  it didn’t require endless trips to baste – there was no big plunger-looking-tool involved.  we drizzled maple syrup (yes, pure maple syrup heaven) over the top twice while roasting.  and this was juicy, with a crispy, savory-sweet skin.  i used the “innards,” as grandma used to say, to make turkey broth.  and can i tell you we had leftovers with joy to make casserole (recipe to come soon), egg scramble, and turkey-salad?  make this… go here to see how.  🙂  you’re welcome.