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Thanksgiving preview and turkey photo contest

The one perk about being a food blogger is you get to celebrate all of your holidays early. Sometimes months early. Think about it. When you find a blog or magazine recipe for Thanksgiving turkey or pumpkin pie in late October or early November, when do you think those dishes were cooked? This year my family celebrated Thanksgiving in September. I am talking about a full-on Thanksgiving dinner with two different turkeys and all the fixings for 16 people.

 

The funny thing is my family loves it. There is something special about getting to eat stuffing and pumpkin pie in August or September. This year I had lots of help from my daughters Lauren and Margo, my son Mikey, my husband JP, my niece Madi who is in culinary school, Madi's boyfriend Max, my nephew Parker who is an ace photographer and my friend Eva who is a world-class dishwasher (and anesthesiologist by trade).

Click to download our free e-cookbook: 3 Fabulous Turkey Recipes Guaranteed To Be Spectacular

 

Two incredible turkeys

This year, we changed things up a bit and I made two turkeys using methods I have never used before. I won't give you the details now, but both turkeys were exceptionally moist and delicious. The most amazing part was one of the turkeys only took only 80 minutes to cook! I will never go back to my old turkey ways again.

 

Here is a sneak preview of one of the turkeys:

Is this bacon wrapped turkey a thing of beauty or what?

We also had our tried and true favorite cranberry sauce

A boozy pumpkin tart made by Madi and some fall flowers for the table

And my daughter Lauren made wonderful paleo-friendly chocolates

 

So stay tuned. Look for these recipes and more starting this week.

Turkey photo contest

Thanksgiving is a time for sharing and we'd love to share your turkey photos. Join in the fun and enter our turkey photo contest. Email us a picture of your turkey (beautiful, failed, bacon-wrapped or funny) by Wednesday, December 3rd. Two prizes will be awarded. The winner will receive a Cuisinart Mini-prep and the runner up will receive a CDN Quick-Read thermometer, both are two of my favorite cooking tools. Winners will be announced on Monday, December 8th. Email your pictures to kim@somethingnewfordinner.com.

1st place prize

2nd place prize

 

It's going to be a great Thanksgiving!

6 COMMENTS

Comments

  1. Suzette Manzares says:

    Mine came out amazing

    1. Kim says:

      Hi Suzette,
      Which turkey did you make? The Bacon-wrapped turkey or the Spatchcocked turkey? Please email us a photo to enter our turkey contest!

  2. Todd Campbell says:

    My bacon wrapped turkey was phenomenal! After removing it from the oven and letting it rest, I went to carve and plate … The meat fell right off the carcass! Though I had tied the leg bones together, the leg & thigh had spread or even separated from the turkey .. It was gorgeous! I also used double smoked bacon from a Polish Deli in my neighborhood … I had then slice it extra thick. Due to the wider shape & shorter length than packaged bacon, the basket weave was a little more “organic” than uniform in presence. 😉 However, the flavor was off the charts! Even the more experienced chefs within my group were completely shocked! I could barely get it on to plates … Everyone turned into a wild animal ravishing a carcass on the Serengeti!
    It was the first turkey I had ever cooked! (17.5 lbs too!) … I took photos to post on Facebook, and just realized you had a photo contest in progress! I’ll be submitting this afternoon.
    I had originally been doing research for a spatchcocked recipe … LUCKILY, I came across yours … I found the Bacon Wrapped recipe link in the opening paragraph … Clicked … The rest was history! Your site has just moved to the top my “Fav” cooking blogs list.
    Happy Holidays! xxx

    1. Kim says:

      HI Tom,

      I just read your review of my Incredible bacon wrapped turkey recipe and I can’t tell you how much you made my day. I am so glad you enjoyed the turkey. We have gotten an enormously positive response in terms of comments, photos, and interest on social media, but I think your review is the one that makes me happiest. Thank you! I can’t wait to see your pictures!

  3. Mary Day says:

    This year we had 3, 12 lb turkeys in our freezer. (from last years over purchasing!) I worried they might be dry, because of their age, so I figured I’d try one bacon wrapped. The other two? One got Cajun marinated. The third, my son-in-law smoked outside. . Your recipe was easy to follow, easy to visualize, gave me confidence that I could do it. Needless to say, we got a great thing started!! It was a great twist on just having “a bird”. We all enjoyed the flavor variances. There’s 11 of us, age 11 to 66. And everyone agreed: we’d do this again next year (but just 2 birds!) I took pics of before, during and after so I could enter your contest. We think it’s a pretty bird. My recipe variances: I didn’t put the butter rub on it. I used thin bacon (next time, I’ll use thick). And I put it in regular oven for 30 minutes, then into electric roaster for remainder of time…. Never had to cover it with foil. Never burned bacon. Perfecto!! Thanks for your recipe!! Hope you like the pictures!

    1. Kim says:

      Hi May,

      I am so glad you enjoyed the turkey. Thank you for sharing your photos and the changes you made to the recipe. It is particularly interesting that you were able to get great results with a frozen turkey. I think the bacon acts as a continuous and deep baster. In hindsight, the extra investment in a little bacon allows you to use a less expensive frozen turkey. Very good to know. I am not familiar with electric roasters but I think it is great that you did not have to cover your turkey with foil. I am sure other readers will appreciate this information. Thank you for writing in. I look forward to receiving your pictures!

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