Succes: Our First Turkey

Our apartment complex gave out turkeys around Thanksgiving time. We got one, promptly stuck it in the freezer and didn't give it a second thought. I pulled it out on Saturday to start thawing it (mostly in the fridge, partially in water on Sunday). We bought a throw-away roasting pan. I had done some quick searching on "cooking a turkey" and, well, that didn't help much. "Season however you'd like." Would I really be trying to figure out how to cook a turkey if I knew how to season it?

Called my dad. "Let's say you have a turkey..." He laughed.

I ended up covering it with soy sauce (we've had this thick soy sauce since we were married - it's too thick to use in any other way other than marinade). We stuck it in the oven and it was supposed to be done in 3 hours. At 4 1/2 hours, the thermometer still hadn't popped.

Called my mom. "Let's say your turkey thermometer doesn't pop..." She laughed.

I ended up cutting between the leg and breast to check the color of the juice and the meat. We had to leave the apartment at this point, so we turned the oven off. Upon our return, the thermometer had popped. Yay!

We made some mashed potatoes (sans gravy), heated up some green beans, and voila! a meal was born.

Even Jaeden agrees the turkey was good.