Thanksgiving (USA-style) 2018

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:43 pm

Outvoted by my kids, wife, and mother, I'll be driving westward to Pittsburgh as soon as I get home from work (should be a 1/2 day or so) tomorrow afternoon. I was the lone dissenting vote to leave at like 3 or 4AM on Thursday. I guess it's win-win for me as we'll either breeze through PA or we'll get stuck in traffic hell and I'll get to be a whiny little brat about it to everyone.

Here's an interesting story about turkeys

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:46 pm

As god is my witness...

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:22 pm

rass wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:43 pm Outvoted by my kids, wife, and mother, I'll be driving westward to Pittsburgh as soon as I get home from work (should be a 1/2 day or so) tomorrow afternoon. I was the lone dissenting vote to leave at like 3 or 4AM on Thursday. I guess it's win-win for me as we'll either breeze through PA or we'll get stuck in traffic hell and I'll get to be a whiny little brat about it to everyone.

Here's an interesting story about turkeys

Turnpike?

I fucking hate the PA turnpike, man. When I head up to MI, I almost always take 68 up through the Cumberland Gap. It might take me a little longer. But, fuck the turnpike, man.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:32 pm

Going to Phoenix again to spend time with my best friends and goddaughter.

But this time around I have to spend leave because my new commander has decreed that a radius of anything more than 4 hours/300 miles of driving distance is "outside the local area." It's fucking bullshit. I can't wait to retire.

Also, today was my squadron's Thanksgiving potluck. Look at this tragedy of a side dish:

Spaghetti.
Hot dogs.
Sausage
Onions.
Cabbage.
Bacon.
Shredded carrots.
Corn on the cob. (Not seen)
Sadness.

The white people memes are real, folks.

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:56 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:22 pm Turnpike?

Yeah...

It's been 8+ years since I've been out there, so I guess the rest areas will be new, at least.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:13 pm

rass wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:43 pm Outvoted by my kids, wife, and mother, I'll be driving westward to Pittsburgh as soon as I get home from work (should be a 1/2 day or so) tomorrow afternoon. I was the lone dissenting vote to leave at like 3 or 4AM on Thursday. I guess it's win-win for me as we'll either breeze through PA or we'll get stuck in traffic hell and I'll get to be a whiny little brat about it to everyone.

We're doing our variation of that as soon as my wife can clock out tomorrow (in previous years, they have only been informed of closing early with an hour or two of notice), only headed to Ohio. Pack in the morning, load the car around noon, pick up the younger kid at day care as soon as she punches out. Just wondering which is the best time. Mid-afternoon, we'll hit Buffalo around rush hour. Whole day, we'll get to my mom's house around midnight. We were unified in the "leave Wednesday" option and our kids have not been granted suffrage.

Post by **brian** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:20 pm

I'm on record as enjoying some messed up food concoctions (one favorite when I was younger was ground beef, macaroni and cheese and canned corn) but that shit is just gross AF.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:23 pm

Fucking kitchen isn't done yet, so no hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year...

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:43 pm

I have a small family on my side, for reasons. My wife has the crew, and 3 of the 4 kids on that side live locally (Older BIL is in JAX.)

So, due to everyone growing families and stuff, our house is nominally biggest, but also centrally located.

We host T'giving and Christmas Eve, Christmas Day is at the Mother(and Father-in-Law) Ship.

And I love it, for the most part. We are deep-frying a turkey at our place for the first time this year. (Also having MIL do one up so we can do the traditional stuffing.)

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 4:50 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 2:22 pm
rass wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 1:43 pm Outvoted by my kids, wife, and mother, I'll be driving westward to Pittsburgh as soon as I get home from work (should be a 1/2 day or so) tomorrow afternoon. I was the lone dissenting vote to leave at like 3 or 4AM on Thursday. I guess it's win-win for me as we'll either breeze through PA or we'll get stuck in traffic hell and I'll get to be a whiny little brat about it to everyone.

Here's an interesting story about turkeys
Turnpike?

I fucking hate the PA turnpike, man. When I head up to MI, I almost always take 68 up through the Cumberland Gap. It might take me a little longer. But, fuck the turnpike, man.

I hope it never swallows you whole, though.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:30 pm

Pop is smoking a brisket this year. Fuck turkey.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:37 pm

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:30 pm Pop is smoking a brisket this year. Fuck turkey.

Smoked brisket sounds great but DO NOT say “fuck turkey”. My wife roasts a delicious juicy turkey, and I’ll eat it with loads of homemade gravy. I love the entire meal with some great sides, until the last crumbs of homemade pecan pie are wiped from my mouth. Can’t wait.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:41 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:37 pm
BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:30 pm Pop is smoking a brisket this year. Fuck turkey.
Smoked brisket sounds great but DO NOT say “fuck turkey”. My wife roasts a delicious juicy turkey, and I’ll eat it with loads of homemade gravy. I love the entire meal with some great sides, until the last crumbs of homemade pecan pie are wiped from my mouth. Can’t wait.

You can love the meal and the sides and the wonderful pecan pie.

Turkey isn't in the top 3 birds to cook. It's trash. Sorry, not sorry.

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:44 pm

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:30 pm Pop is smoking a brisket this year. Fuck turkey.

100% on board. Finally get my wish of not having turkey on Thanksgiving. Going to grill burgers at a tailgate then attend the Colorado State - Air Force game at the Academy.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 6:44 pm

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:41 pm
sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:37 pm
BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 5:30 pm Pop is smoking a brisket this year. Fuck turkey.
Smoked brisket sounds great but DO NOT say “fuck turkey”. My wife roasts a delicious juicy turkey, and I’ll eat it with loads of homemade gravy. I love the entire meal with some great sides, until the last crumbs of homemade pecan pie are wiped from my mouth. Can’t wait.
You can love the meal and the sides and the wonderful pecan pie.

Turkey isn't in the top 3 birds to cook. It's trash. Sorry, not sorry.

I would agree with this on the caveat that a well-cooked turkey via smoking/brining/whatever is delicious. But a not well-cooked turkey is not that good

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:33 pm

Well prepared food tastes better than poorly prepared food.

That’s a hot take honed in the furnaces of Yahoo!.

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:34 pm

My wife is rethinking the departure time.

Post by **brian** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:37 pm

rass wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:33 pm Well prepared food tastes better than poorly prepared food.

That’s a hot take honed in the furnaces of Yahoo!.

FAKE NEWS!

All of it. (Well not rass' actual take. That's right.)

Turkey is great. It's not as great as a well-aged steak cooked to perfection, but it's great. It's not as great as perfectly pork tenderloin, but it's great. It's not as great as a pit-cooked BBQ pork, but it's great. It's all great.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:39 pm

rass wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:33 pm Well prepared food tastes better than poorly prepared food.

That’s a hot take honed in the furnaces of Yahoo!.

the writer phrased that poorly

you can make a turkey bland and boring in a lot of different ways. it takes help to be good.

I AM EXHAUSTED FROM MY TRAVELS AND I JUST WANT TO GO TO SLEEP OK?!

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 7:53 pm

Turkey can be good, but it can also be fairly unforgiving. Because the dark meat takes longer to cook then the breast, it's easy to get all dried out. The trick: You can spatchcock it, or you can make a 'codpiece' out of tinfoil to place over the breast after its cooked for 60 minutes or so.

Our Thanksgiving: GF's daughter, her boyfriend, and his parents are coming into town from Bend tomorrow. Thursday we are having the Friendsgiving with them and 6 other couples (our main friend group...The Empty Nesters) along with their kids and significant others. Should be about 35 people in total. I'm assigned a veggie side dish, so I'm doing hasselback roasted beets with a dill sauce. Never tried it before, but should be relatively easy. I'm also bringing wine, and probably some scotch. And I always end up doing a lengthy stretch at the sink doing dishes when I'm all buzzed after dinner.

Then on Friday, we are doing Thanksgiving 2: Electric Boogaloo at our house, with my daughters, GF's daughter, BF, his parents, and the GF's other daughter (the disabled one). For that one I'm doing the Turkey (doing a dry brine this year), potatoes, and dressing.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 8:44 pm

Or you can deep fry it and win Thanksgiving every year.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 9:05 pm

White meats are lower ceiling, higher floor. And we already did the first leg of travel because I can’t stand the Wednesday before on the road in the northeast.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:46 pm

Johnnie wrote: ↑Tue Nov 20, 2018 8:44 pm Or you can deep fry it and win Thanksgiving every year.

Sams sells butterball fried breasts that are out of this world good.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:15 am

Day started with a lower tire pressure warning light, which I found to be caused by a nail in my rear driver's side tire. My older kid's middle school was on lockdown (prior to most if not all kids arriving) because of an unidentified person in the school, and the police just gave the all clear to let everyone in.

Good new is that leaving early tomorrow AM is back on the table. Apparently my opinion on holiday travel had to be bolstered by input from various friends and coworkers to get my wife to change her mind.

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:10 am

Smoking our turkey tomorrow and hosting 3 neighboring families. All we have to do is make a turkey (one neighbor is bringing another) and a couple of dips, all the other sides and desserts are being handled by neighbors. We'll have about 20 people in the house, but it's my wife's least favorite holiday so she doesn't mind the crowd. The other neighbors host Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve, so we can mostly just relax those days.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:20 am

phxgators wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:10 am Smoking our turkey tomorrow and hosting 3 neighboring families. All we have to do is make a turkey (one neighbor is bringing another) and a couple of dips, all the other sides and desserts are being handled by neighbors. We'll have about 20 people in the house, but it's my wife's least favorite holiday so she doesn't mind the crowd. The other neighbors host Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve, so we can mostly just relax those days.

I haven't done a whole smoked turkey, but I'd like to.

I just don't understand the love other than tradition. It's a shitty bird to cook. Especially anything you see over 12 or so lbs. You guys wanna die on turkey hill be my guest, but life's too short to eat shitty poultry.

HaulCitgo · Post by **HaulCitgo** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 10:42 am

About two days to smoke a turkey? Always takes forever for me to smoke a (Google suggests blunt/bowl/cigarette as the next words) butt so a turkey has to be even longer.

phxgators · Post by **phxgators** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 10:58 am

I smoke turkey at a higher temperature, ~325 degrees. So it's pretty comparable to oven cooking time for me.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:47 am

We can all agree that green bean casserole is hot garbage, right?

If you disagree, your grandma did you dirty and couldn't make regular green beans worth a damn.

Post by **brian** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:48 am

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:47 am We can all agree that green bean casserole is hot garbage, right?

If you disagree, your grandma did you dirty and couldn't make regular green beans worth a damn.

Agree.

duff · Post by **duff** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:54 am

brian wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:48 am
A_B wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:47 am We can all agree that green bean casserole is hot garbage, right?

If you disagree, your grandma did you dirty and couldn't make regular green beans worth a damn.
Agree.

Absofuckinglutely. But it is Mom's green beans. The only green beans I eat.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 12:00 pm

I LIKE IT

Post by **Sabo** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 12:01 pm

Green beans are one of the few foods I do not like.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 1:06 pm

duff wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:54 am
brian wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:48 am
A_B wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 11:47 am We can all agree that green bean casserole is hot garbage, right?

If you disagree, your grandma did you dirty and couldn't make regular green beans worth a damn.
Agree.
Absofuckinglutely. But it is Mom's green beans. The only green beans I eat.

Yaaassss, go off, King!

Green bean casserole is why black people think white people have no culture.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 2:14 pm

Well, when my mom made green beans after my grandma passed, she used the same recipe, guys. I just happened to grow up with my grandparents and mom in same house so mamaw did all the cooking.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:33 pm

Turkeys is in the Brine!

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 8:53 pm

Made it!

Had to buy two new tires this afternoon....

But made it!

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:47 pm

Happy Thanksgiving Guys!

Square Rob · Post by **Square Rob** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 10:34 pm

Rass, I flew into Pittsburgh yesterday, but we headed south to the wife’s hometown in WV. I’m in for several boring days, ending with a school reunion for the wife on Friday. Then we get up stupid early to fly home so we don’t miss the iron bowl.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Nov 21, 2018 10:35 pm

Where in WV? Big state, but I have family down there (and a long absent swamper in the same area).