Happy Thanksgiving! This year I am lucky enough to be a guest at a friend’s thanksgiving table. Last year, I had the honor and horror of hosting, and brought the burden upon myself to prepare a turkey from scratch for my friends and cousins. Everyone offered that we just order a ready-made turkey. They were as scared as I about the prospect of me tackling a full-on bird, what with little experience I have in the kitchen. But I was determined. With my loved ones on my mind, and not wanting to disappoint their expectation of a delicious, or at least edible turkey on thanksgiving, I promised to buy a back-up in case I screwed up. But I was going to give it a shot.

I watched Alton Brown on the Food Network prepare a turkey. He seems like a guy I can trust, and every step of the process is described and explained very logically. I figured if I did exactly as he said, everything would be fine. I re-watched the episode several times. And studied the recipe online.

Alton Brown’s Turkey

The odds were against me. And it didn’t happen without a lot of stress. Among my obstacles were finding a large enough bucket to brine the bird in. (I eventually found a cooler in which fit just so.) It also didn’t happen without an army of people helping me. But it happened and it was more than edible: it was juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and absolutely delicious. A better success than I could have imagined for my first ever thanksgiving turkey. I didn’t end up having time to purchase a “back-up” but luckily, it just so happened that I didn’t need it.