Talk Turkey To Me

I have a confession to make. I have never, ever baked a turkey all by myself.

Want to know something else? I have always been deathly afraid of baking a turkey all by myself for fear that it wouldn’t turn out.

So silly.

Luckily, not everyone shared in my death by turkey fears and we’ve always had turkey for the Holidays. It just sort of magically appeared each year. Holidays with my mom typically meant my grandmother was tasked with turkey duty while Holidays with my dad could mean ordering a fried turkey or having Piccadilly do all the work (not joking- I’ve had Piccadilly many a Thanksgiving).As newlyweds, one year Brian took on role of turkey task master and you’d think that if he could’ve conquered the ole’ turkey, I would’ve built some confidence.

But no.

Not until this year, 4 years of marriage later, did I try my hand a baking a turkey. And you guys, it wasn’t hard at all!

I have no idea why I was terrified or why I thought turkey baking was a day long process. I’m pretty sure somewhere along the way someone complained about it and therefore establishing the ridiculous fears I had over turkey time. But I stand before you today as queen of the turkey!

Ok, ok. We don’t have to take it that far. We’ll just say that I tackled the turkey and I did not die. And….the turkey was quite edible. Delicious even.

Could’ve been a little juicier but I think I know to inject more the next time.

I thought it would be fun to share a little behind the scenes of a glamour turkey.

When we shot the Holiday cover for the Baton Rouge Junior League magazine, our turkey looked like this: But friends, it doesn’t just pop out of the oven looking like that.

In fact, it comes out of the oven looking like this:

In an ugly foil container.

And I don’t know about your turkey transporting skills, but for me and my amateurish turkey ways, the removal of the turkey from the foil onto the serving platter was enough to give me heart palpitations. The turkey is hot (duh- it just baked for 2 ½ hours). It’s juicy (duh- you injected it with about a cup of butter marinade). But most problematic- the darn thing is heavy!

Enter OXO’s Turkey Lifter.

Do you hear angels singing? You should.

With its durable handle knob thing and fork like pokers, this baby is going to relieve you of your turkey transferring fears. The turkey will still be hot, juicy and heavy but it’s going to keep you from having to physically grab that turkey, or worse, attempt using a flimsy spatula like I would’ve tried to do. It’s like an extra hand- a really sturdy silicone coated one at that. OXO is sort of known for developing tools (I call them my gadgets) to make your life easier and the Turkey Lifter is no exception. For people, like myself, with unrational fears of moving a turkey from its beloved baking pan, the lifter is a no brainer. I’m also a fan of the little built in stand on the all new baster. No touching the counter and dripping everywhere when you lie it down.

And I know what you’re thinking. Yeah, yeah, good for you, you have a box full of “gadgets” to make your turkey lovely and I’ve got none.

And you’d be wrong!

I’m delighted to share that my friends at OXO want you to have their turkey tools just as much as I want you to have some new turkey tools! Free turkey tools!

Gobble Gobble, tell me more!!!

Simply enter below and the OXO team will choose not one, but two random people to send turkey treats right to your doorstep.

Move over Easter Bunny…..the Thanksgiving Gobble squad is ready for Operation Turkey Takedown.

Do you see what has happened here? I’ve baked one turkey and now I’m tossing out turkey lingo like I know what I’m talking about.

Next Monday, I’ll share the Spicy Apple Turkey recipe along with a Bourbon Gravy that’ll change your life.

Have a great weekend!

Table scape photos: Kaela Rodehorst

This is a sponsored post on behalf of OXO. All opinions are my own.