My first turkey

Morty ponders the Verrazano Bridge.

My cousin left on Tuesday morning, leaving me with the rest of the day
to make desserts for Thanksgiving. I produced two apple cakes (one for Josh's family) and chocolate mousse. Our plan was for a quick getaway from Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon, so there would be no time for baking the next day. Unfortunately, I didn't get home as early as I expected on Wednesday because my grandmother was in the hospital with an infection. My bosses were quite kind and let me leave at 12:30 (I felt bad because I'd taken Monday and Tuesday off) so I could visit her. I left the hospital at 2:30 and wound up on the same subway car as Josh in Brooklyn (a very big coincidence). We left NY in good time, but Morty kept crying and going nuts in his carrier.

Before this Thanksgiving, I had never roasted a turkey before, and my parents were of no help as they'd never made one either. My brother and I turned to our mentor, Alton Brown, for guidance. For the first time in family history, the Thanksgiving turkey would go into a brine. I wound up getting up at 7 on Turkey Day to put the bird in the brine. However, I didn't think about how much two-plus gallons of brine with an 18 lb. turkey would weigh. I'm happy to say that I didn't break my back or drop the bucket. The turkey turned out fine in the end, despite setting off the smoke alarm during its initial browning phase at 500 degrees. Thankfully the 500 degree period was only for a half hour. Our turkey took two and a half hours to roast in total and we had white meat only, but it was the juiciest and most flavorful turkey I've had (white or dark meat). I am definitely brining my turkey from now on.

Aside from the turkey, my mom told me that I'd be in charge of Thanksgiving and do all the cooking while she'd wash my dishes. So the night before T-Day, I made a turkey lasagna per my parents' request. On the day of, I made gravy from scratch and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. It was a little daunting to be in charge of dinner, with my aunt asking me, "So should I make samosas now?" Luckily, I had a bunch of cousins for sous chefs. "Peel the potatoes! Mash the potatoes! Get me flour! Stir the gravy! Fondle these turkey gizzards!" Just kidding on the last one. Of everything I made, I think I liked the gravy the most, which had a base of onions sauteed in butter. It was so packed with flavor and utterly delicious. Mmm. Everything's better with gravy.

Running the kitchen turned out to be a nice challenge, and what self-respecting NYC foodie trapped in an inadequate kitchen would turn her back on a huge kitchen equipped with a six-burner Wolf range and matching exhaust hood (my stove doesn't have a hood and makes for interesting dances around the smoke alarm)?