The Time I Was Outsmarted by A Thanksgiving Turkey

I hope you have recovered from last week’s food-induced coma. Whether it was with all the fixins’ or minimal fuss, I hope your holiday was exactly what you were needing.

I’m proud to say I successfully cooked a 22.5 pound turkey for my whole family.

Not only did I cook it, but it was quite tasty, if I do say so myself. People willingly took home leftovers, so I’m thinking I did a solid job.

However, as the title of this post indicates, there was one thing that eluded me in the process. One hiccup in the relatively smooth seas of dressing up this bird for a final turkey trot to my kitchen table. I was unable to find the giblets. #thatswhatshesaid

Prior to last week I didn’t know much about preparing a turkey, but what I learned from a few helpful Google searches was that portions of the turkey are included inside the turkey for those who may want to use those parts for other recipes.

And while I didn’t have anything in mind for those parts, my understanding was it was my job to remove them before completing my prep. Specifically, the neck and the giblets.

The neck was no problem, as a portion of it was literally hanging outside the turkey. Of course my confidence was quickly dashed when I reached into the cavity and there was nothing else there.

I even used the flashlight on my phone to look inside…nada. I had Dean come to the kitchen and check…nothing.  I literally lifted the bird out of the roasting pan and shook it upside-down like I was a cartoon bully trying to take some kid’s lunch money…zilch.

Ultimately, I decided that my turkey came sans-giblets and since it didn’t seem essential to the cooking process, I moved on with the prep and got that bird in the oven.

Five hours later, after it came out of the oven, sat for 30-minutes and Dean began the process of carving the turkey, he called out “Hey Bec, you’ll never guess what I found?”

Of course, my first response to that question will always be “buried treasure” and seeing that Dean was holding up a little pouch I really thought I had finally found the perfect moment for that response. Of course, all of you seasoned (no pun intended) chefs know that was in fact the missing giblets.

Considering I had completely forgotten about the giblets it was a bit of an anticlimactic moment. However, I was still curious as to where those tricky giblets were hiding out. SIDENOTE: Tricky Giblets would be a great band name.

I’ve determined it can only be one of two possibilities; either turkeys have trapdoors that Google neglected to tell me about or this specific bird was an aspiring magician and I tip my cap at its final reveal.

And speaking of timely reveals, as we are now officially in the holiday season I wanted to share a few favorite Christmas items from my shop.

If 12 Days of Christmas is your jam, I’ve got mugs and prints of my whimsical take on that classic song.

If you are a fan of Buddy the Elf, why not get “The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear” as a mug, t-shirt or print?

Or how about some original note cards to send your holiday well wishes?

Of course there are plenty of non-Christmas products as well that came about from my 2 years of creating artwork every day.

Go to shop.rebeccagallagher.com and whether it’s a teacher gift, Office Secret Santa or that oh-so-difficult person to buy for, you’re sure to find something special and I truly appreciate the support for my little shop.

Thank you for the privilege to drop into your inbox each week. Please let me know if you’ve been enjoying these posts or if there is a specific topic you’d like me to chat about in a future post. Cheers!