Why I Cook TWO Turkeys

OH MY GOD...is this me STILL BLOGGING ABOUT SOUP??

Yep.  I seem to be obsessing about soup...

Welcome to November. Before you know it -- YOU WILL BE COOKING A TURKEY, ladies!!

THIS is the perfect television/internet version of a Thanksgiving Turkey.  (you know they use shoe polish to get that color,  right?).

But I'm guessing this is the reality...in most kitchens, anyway...

Here's the thing. If you are the lucky woman who gets have the turkey-cooking-mess at your house -- you should make TWO birds at one time. Trust me.  Cooking TWO small turkeys instead of one large bird will cut your stress in half...it's a simple matter of math.

First of all -- it's hard to cook a giant turkey perfectly cooked. To get the white meat to the proper temp, the wings and legs are overcooked. But the small turkeys (10 lb) will get done in a scant two hours. You have a WAY BETTER chance at moist and juicy (which is the goal)...

For another thing, the giant turkey monopolizes your oven for the entire morning.  With two small turkeys, you can take one roaster pan out, put your green bean casserole in, etc...

Also -- turkeys are cheap right now.  If you buy a Hormel ham at HyVee,  you get a 10 pound turkey free.

See what I mean?  Cooking two small turkeys just makes sense. 

A turkey carcass makes a really delicious soup.

So, while everybody else is off doing their Black Friday shopping -- I am home, breaking down the leftovers from my two small turkeys.  I pick the meat off the bones, slice the white meat for sandwiches...(that rarely makes it into the soup). then simmer the carcass(es).

I chop the onions, celery, carrots, and the leftover turkey meat.  (that we didn't eat for sandwiches).  I put the soup together and cool it before putting it into freezer bags.

Because I am making the soup FOR THE FREEZER, I want the vegetables to be barely cooked. NOT mushy.

Then, to review...those bags of soup can very easily be transformed (at a later date) into turkey and noodles, turkey and dumplings...or, one of my favorite things -- turkey pot pie...

Oh oh...that feels like another post...