Love that you cook it in a brick oven. I poured a slab for a brick oven off our porch a couple of years ago but I keep spending my money elsewhere. We just deep fry our turkeys. Pretty much fool proof. I do two and put one in the freezer just b cause I hate paying that much for the oil.
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Thanks, but itâs OK. My husband is unable to help me anymore and the only other one at our table is my brother. We have always been invited to our daughterâs for Thanksgiving, but my husband and I have both agreed that itâs way too chaotic (we have four grandsons) and that we prefer the peace and quiet. We do however, go out to their place on Friday for âleftover dayâ. Next Thanksgiving is going to be different.
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I did that a couple of times and had the same reaction to wasting the oil. The oven is just a better alternative although not nearly as fast.
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Spatchcock your bird, and even a big one will take less than an hour. Itâs a really great technique.
You can also pour the cool oil through a cheesecloth strainer and keep it in the freezer too. Maybe not til next year, but you could totally fry other stuff in it.
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I spatchcocked our turkey last yearâŚfirst time. A pretty interesting procedure. For some reason though, I completely forgot about doing it again this year.
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Small bird this year, only 5 people. Iâm making the rolls and the sweet potato. I miss the gatherings at my auntâs family â one year the bird was somewhere north of 40 pounds.
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New word for me! Iâd never heard of spatchcocking a bird. (Looks like it would be nice and flavorful!) 
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Sometimes youâll see butterflied as a synonym. But yeah, spatchcock that sucker, mix some butter with herbs and rub it under the skin, then olive oil and copious salt and pepper in the outside. Itâs pretty great.
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Going to have to give that a try.
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Yep, I started doing that a couple of years ago. Had to get some special shears for cutting through the bones (first year I tried some âheavy dutyâ kitchen shears but they were really hard to work through the bones so I finally got some dedicated spatchcocking shears from Amazon). The turkey doesnât look like Norman Rockwellâs but since I cut it away from the table (and more than half the family is either vegan or vegetarian) it doesnât matter what it looks like. Makes it easier to get the breast off the bone too.
BTW, the best thing Iâve found for carving a turkey is one of these fillet knives (Amazon.com) - the ultra sharp blade is flexible so it can slide right along the bones - makes it really easy to cut a turkey. You can catch them on sale for under $10 sometimes too!
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Had to laugh at that. Yesterday, since I had purchased a considerably smaller turkey than usual, it was done even before I expected it. When I took it out of the roasting pan to make the gravy, it literally fell apart. Now, falling-off-the-bone makes for a fantastic turkey, but it looked like hell on the platter, so I carried it over in front of my husband and brother while using Rockwellâs art as a complete opposite example. It was certainly nothing someone would place in the middle of a table for all to see. But, it tasted great.
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I remember that from college. One day a year, all the Canadians would disappear from campus.
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It was a lean year at 20 for dinner (11 kids) and then my brother and sister came for pie with theirs, and the total went up 3 adults and 6 kids.
We have done upwards of 40. We mostly all pitch in, everybody brings several dishes, everybody helps set up, most help clean up.
Best thing for me - one year anniversary of my kid being done with chemo. Thanksgiving went up a notch in the favorite holiday list when it became the anniversary of the end of cancer treatment.
⌠and pie. Thatâs also the best. 
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WowâŚThat is a lot to be thankful for. (Hope & pray things are even better for you next year.) 
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I would have to agree with thatâŚthe absolute best! Great news for all of you. I canât even begin to imagine having as many as 40 people, much less a mere 20 people!..but thatâs mostly because we live in a shoebox of a house. Our tolerance for noise in this tiny place is sometimes at an all-time low. And pieâŚwell, what can I say?
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And now⌠the title makes sense! (that must have been an editâŚ) Anyone planning on incorporating the Moving Grid thing into Christmas dinner? 
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First we need to make a bunch of 2x4s out of potatoâŚ
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Very organic forum. Chuckle! 
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Or as I used to call themâŚdiced kinetisized tuberiferaâŚfrench fries.
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Thank you for the post. I might be able to use a modified version of that.
I had an idea for a greenhouse made out of flexed PVC pipe. I know, thatâs not a new idea. But I want to pressurize the pipes with water and drill pin-holes along the upper areas, creating a sort-of artificial rain when I want it. My concern has been that drilling the holes will weaken the structure of the flexed pipe to the point of breaking.
Iâm now wondering if running the pipes diagonally over the arch instead of vertically would work. There would be MANY more connectors, but the runs of pipe would be shorter. I could use smaller pieces of plastic for the covering, so repairs would be easier. The amount of flex would be diminished at the joints due to the rigidity of the cross-connectors. Iâll definitely have to think about this.
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