My 18 Pound Bundle of Joy

I know Thanksgiving is done and over with but I'm behind on posts and wanted to share the results of my first attempt at a whole turkey this year.  In the past I have just done turkey breasts so this was a big deal to make a whole turkey.

Going into this, I was very nervous, I didn't want to screw up such an important meal.  After numerous talks with my Mom and Grandma in which I took many notes during those conversations and numerous visits to Butterball's website, I was rearin' to give it a whirl.

I figured, if I'm going to go to this much trouble to make a meal, I'm going to buy a big turkey so I went with an 18 pound-er, ya I wasn't messing around!  My original thoughts were I was going to make a Thanksgiving meal for family but it didn't work out this year to do so but figured I would invite some friends over to partake in our feast.  Being that I was a newbie to this whole turkey thing, I only invited close friends, that way if it didn't turn out, I wouldn't be embarrassed because they can vouch that I'm a good cook otherwise.

I also was thinking, okay what is my 'Plan B' if this doesn't turn out?  Go to the grocery store, buy a pre-made rotisserie chicken and pass it off to my friends that it is turkey?  Yep, a perfect  'Plan B' was set in place!  Luckily, Plan B was not necessary because I'm thinking my friends would have known I fed them chicken.

Prepping the turkey did give me a bit of anxiety, I had a few moments where I wasn't understanding my notes that I had took from my mom.  I then did a live chat with a Butterball representative just to clarify a few things.  Once I got it into the roaster, I felt a sense of relief that the hard part was over with. Surprisingly, I was only mildly grossed out by the uncooked bird, I just tried not to think about it too much as I was prepping it.

Turkey turned out fantastic!  Got done earlier than I was expecting but it all worked out fabulously!  Aaron and our friends complimented the meal and now I'm confident in my Thanksgiving Day skills.  I'm feeling so good about it all, I think I will invite my family up next year to host Thanskgiving.  Gooble Gooble!

I highly recommend using a roaster to free up your oven space

And she's prepped and ready to go! Notice my leg and wing tucking skills...

Thanks mom for giving me my Christmas gift of turkey plates early for our festivities!  I love them! 

Aaron craving his first turkey!  Everyone was suppose to wear their ugly Christmas sweater to dinner but Aaron and I were the only goofballs dressed up for the occasion 

Mark and Nikki popping the champagne 

Taters! 

Apple Walnut Cranberry Salad

Gooble Gooble 

Green Bean Casserole 

Apple Caramel Cheesecake (compliments of Nikki)

Not pictured: gravy, rolls, deviled eggs & pumpkin souffle.

BIG THANKS TO MY MOM FOR ALL THE ADVICE!  Pretty sure I would have screwed it up and we would have been eating chicken if it wasn't for all the expert advice I received!  :)