We don't do mashed taters for Thanksgiving. Potato Casserole all the way.

One of the mainstays, along with the brocolli and rice casserole, dressing, and chicken and dumplings. Then we usually throw in a couple of new casseroles each year, trying new ones every year.

Just took 3 calzones out of oven.....pre turkey food....Italian style

wife makes great calzones.

sssshhh do not tell the Kman, he still working on a thanksgiving orgasmic dead bird.

Yep..... the birds are in the smoker.

Only hours from culinary orgasmic nirvana.

Man.... huge smell difference between Apple and Mesquite. It's been a while since I cooked with Apple.

Popss, my wife does not cook Italian. What she does cook is Asian. Thai, Korean, Vietnamese, and Philippines. I'll put her Panang, Phat Thai, Phat Me, and Som Tom up against any high end Thai Restaurant.:

She cooks a lumpia to die for. She can even pull off the very hard to make cheese lumpia. Not bad with the Pho soups either. Pancit, Kare Kare, Thai Curries. She is also the pork chop and chicken queen. Her garlic pork chops........ Oh yeah. I may be getting a woody here.

EDIT: Averted disaster.

Went out to check the turkeys and found that one of the legs of the smoker was sinking into the ground (a lot of rain lately). The darn thing was about to fall over.

Was able to lift the smoker, getting a piece of plywood underneath it. Took three bottles of beer and 1 beer bottle of water to refill the steamer. Fortunately, the spilling steamer pan did not get onto the fire. So all is well.

8 hours in, the neighborhood is smelling my turkey and I smell like a wood fire.

just got home from work about an hour ago and the turkey is in the smoker, first of 3.

bird 1 out, bird 2 in.

I had to relearn a valuable lesson this year. When smoking turkeys, keep the birds in the 15lb range. The 23 lb turkey was just a bit to large to get that brine and smoke flavor all of the way into the bird. The Jalapeno turkey actually turned out better this year. I was really able to inject (literally) that Jalapeno flavor into the turkey and the fresh jalapenos inserted under the skin/covering the skin/filling body cavities really resulted in a bird just chock full of jalapeno flavor in every bite. It was a giant hit, even if it did involve cheating.

Not that anything was wrong with the brine turkey. It's just was not up to my "Best Turkey Ever Cooked" standards. You can't get there with a 23 lb bird. Even after a 48 hour brine soak, the brine flavor did not make it all of the way into the turkey.

I will also go back to mesquite next year. The Applewood just did not impart near the smokiness flavor that is a tradition with my turkeys.

Christmas is right around the corner, will run another pair of birds in the smoker for Christmas dinner.

Now..... I am off to eat another round of delicious left overs.

ya, 10 to 12 pounds good for smoking, did the 28 in the oven, i liked my apple wood birds, think they came out fine. the test will be today when we eat them tho.