Elissa Benzie Elissa The Mom
I recently determined that Thanksgiving is not fair. Moms do all the cooking by themselves, while dads and kids watch football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and occasionally wander into the kitchen to whine about being hungry.
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So, this year, I proposed a little switcheroo. I challenged Tyson to make an entire Thanksgiving dinner for me while I watch football in the living room. He’ll be Elissa the Mom, and I’ll be the assistant.
When I started this project, I had no idea Tyson hated touching raw meat. And that presented a problem, because he promised to use Big Mama’s apple bottom bird recipe for his turkey dish.
But I’ve done this before, remember? So I rolled up my sleeves and jumped in to help out — only to discover that I may have a fear of raw meat, too. When Tyson pulled a tendon out of the bird, I nearly threw up.
Thankfully, we managed to get it together long enough to get the turkey in the oven. And, I have to say, it was worth the effort. Big Mama does it again — this is some of the best turkey we’ve ever tasted!
The night before Thanksgiving, I marinaded the turkey in orange juice, brown sugar, and a poultry herb mix.
You will need:
- Turkey (12 to 14 pounds)
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- 5 cloves garlic
- Sage
- Apple
- Orange
- Onion
The reason it’s called “apple bottom bird” is because the turkey is stuffed with apple, orange and onion. Tyson did a great job stuffing, basting and cooking this bird. My mom and her friends all gave their seal of approval — and we collectively decided that Tyson should make Thanksgiving dinner every year!
Side dishes to go with the apple bottom bird:
- Classic green bean casserole
- Big Mama’s 5-cheese macaroni & cheese
- Big Mama’s cornbread stuffing
- Big Mama’s candied yams
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