h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Happy Thanksgiving to all the US h2g2ers (and any lurkers that may be, well, lurking about)!

This was my first year having a real roaster, instead of buying one of those foil ones. I learned that turkey roasts faster in it. That, and just because a 20lb bird will fit (I'd compared the width of the roaster to my forearm--the interior matches the length of my forearm exactly, which made measuring quite convenient, barring the chill of laying my arm crossways on a frozen turkey) doesn't mean you should get on that big--if I'd stuffed the neck cavity like I usually do (couldn't get the wingtips to rotate to pin the skin in place like I normally do, so I unstuffed it) I would've had drippings all over the floor of my oven I also learned that having the limbs fall off the torso when lifting the turkey out of the pan makes carving the breast a snap! And Penny learned that sometimes, it's good to be a dog--there were lots of bits that were too small to bother putting on the tray with the turkey but were too big to leave to get incorperated in the gray. It was also quite nice being able to make gravy without having to pour the drippings into another pan first.

It's a long time since I roasted a turkey.

In Ireland, turkey and ham is the traditional Christmas dinner. Mrs G became a vegetarian many years ago, but her father who used to visit us for Christmas dinner liked turkey so in the last few years that he was alive, we bought one of those boned and rolled turkeys - it only needed to be big enough for two people, because the girls don't really like turkey. Now that it is just the four of us, we just have ham.

I remember the first time we cooked a Christmas dinner for a large number of people, we ordered a free-range bird from a friend of a friend. The message about the size we wanted got exaggerated at each step and we ended up getting a 26-pound monstrosity that hardly fitted in the oven (Irish ovens are considerably smaller than American ones).

I've never roasted a turkey. I roasted a duck once -- in a toaster oven -- and the less I say about that, the better .

I manage fine by making soups and stews on a burner on the stove, and baking breads or cakes in the toaster oven. I actually do have an oven, but I haven't used it in at least ten years.

When we were living in the trailer, I did a whole Christmas dinner, despite not having a working oven (and, since it was a travel trailer, the oven was small anyway). I had 2 crockpots going--one with a ham, and the other with augratin potatoes. Filled out with veggies on the stove, salad, and bought rolls and dessert, 'twas quite good.

That's the weight of a small child! R weighs 25lb and he is rather large for his age!

That's a LOT ok turkey!

There are plenty of places where you can buy various quantities of roasted turkey. Everything else on a typical Thanksgiving Day menu can be made on the stove top or in a toaster oven.

As I learned in the preparations for that Hanukkagiving dinner I did with some friends, turkeys are frighteningly large birds. And we didn't even do a whole roast turkey! Just buying the separate parts, and looking at them in comparison with the equivalent chicken parts (that I am much more familiar with) was rather shocking.

When turkeys were first brought to Europe by explorers, some countries became rather fond of them. Italy is said to have become prominent as a place for raising turkeys.

In the 1860s, American President Lincol heeded requests that an annual day of Thanksgiving be established. The powers that be decided that the holiday should feature foods that the average cook could prepare [as opposed, say, to haute cuisine items]. The turkley seemed ideal as the centerpiece because it was big enough to serve a good-sized family. White potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, and carrots were all items that could be easily prepared. Instead of exotic French sauces, gravy could be made from turkey drippings.