Hahaha. I can relate. My MIL buys a cooked turkey and then more or less cooks it again. It's regular BBQ fare, but I don't think you could go wrong with a brisket or a rib roast. Beware: the price on rib roast is through the roof this year.
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IMHO, better not to make competing good on Thanksgiving, why run the risk of generating hard feelings? Instead, make it the following day and compete against the leftovers. Then maybe you'll persuade them for next year.Comment
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Craigar , I'm with Primo on this. If I were in your place, I would give up on cooking anything for the Thanksgiving meal unless asked. You obviously have already lost the War of the T'giving Meal, the MIL army being what it is, so skirmishes involving an alternate entree may just cause hurt feelings somewhere, most likely with you. There are better battles out there.
After all, at the end of the day, it's only one meal. Plus, usually most folks love the sides, even if they don't like the turkey.
Taking over the kitchen the next day or later in the weekend to get your cooking mojo going might be good, especially for those who are turkeyed-out. In fact, it might be greatly appreciated.
Just FWIW.
KathrynComment
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I do a cured smoked turkey, and a city ham every year for thanksgiving. One year I smoked a flock of Cornish game hens so that everyone got their own mini "turkey".Comment
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I would buy a big turkey breast. Rub, inject and wrap in cheesecloth. Spritz the cheese cloth until the last 1/2 hour. In last 1/2 hour, cover in bacon and go hot. Your turkey is just for leftovers and for those beautiful slices. Hers will take center stage. I believe she will appreciate how the cheesecloth dampens the smoke.Comment
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20 + years ago I started deep frying those birds'. No more sawdust. Anything you present to the wife could be in preparation for left overs. Freeze prepared meals. So ya can pork loin, chops, smoked ham, brisket, chuckie, winter is coming baby. Unless it's going to be warm in NE this winter. you win and send ML home with all left over Turkey.Comment
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If you want to try chicken, this might be a little shift and would be delicious smoked, I think. https://iwillmakecrafts.wordpress.co...r-maple-glaze/
and this is a pork tenderloin recipe worthy of Thanksgiving consideration. https://iwillmakecrafts.wordpress.co...rk-tenderloin/
Both are maple flavored.Comment
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I’ve had this fight with both my MIL and my mom. They wanted traditional turkey, luckily dinner is normally at our house. So in past years I’ve made the traditional turkey in the oven and also a spatchcocked one on smoker and also a ham for those that don’t care for turkey. They have both really liked the smoked one even if they didn’t totally want to admit it.
Last year, we were tired of drama from the past year so we took a road trip down to Texas from Oregon to visit friends for the week of thanksgiving and didn’t have to deal with any family. It was great. One year, my MIL went off on me about something (I asked her how long and temp to cook something) so for Christmas, my husband, son and I took off to the beach so we didn’t have to deal with issues.Comment
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Hello again! Sorry I have been absent since the first post, but life got in the way...more like work. Only 182 more paychecks, then I can move on to something else...but I digress.
First off I would like to thank everyone who participated. You have all given me food for thought, as it may, and Jill and I have come to our conclusion. More on that later.
Second, I need to apologize for not expressing how well my wife can cook. When her mother allows her to do the honors, the turkey always comes out great! Probably because she has her instant read thermometer and knows how to use it. Things go downhill pretty rapidly when her mother gets involved and this will not be the case this year as she will not be allowed in the kitchen until it's time to do the dishes.
We'll see...
tamidw I hear ya loud and clear, sister. Jill and I have skipped the last 2 years, mostly because I have refused to go over there. Well, last year was convenient with the COVID thing and Jill having had half her left lung removed earlier in the year...so that was an easy excuse. Going forward we have pledged to each other we will do whatever is going to make us happy and avoid as much drama as possible. If toes get stepped on, so be it.
Drum roll please...there were a lot of great ideas, and we appreciate it. I had my heart set on the pork loin butterflied and filled with Jill's dressing. As a matter of fact, she was pretty excited about it as well. Then there was a post by fzxdoc and once again Kathryn's voice of reason has won out. Thank you! Kathryn, after reading your post I sat back in my chair and started thinking about how the day would play out. Unfortunately, we don't have the kitchen space we would like to have and we would stepping over each other while I was trying to get the pork loin ready and it would set a bad tone for the day. The pork loin idea has been put on the back burner for another time. The day after Jill will make her usual potato soup with the leftover mashed taters. Saturday will be an Italian oven stew and Sunday will be turkey leftovers of some sort. The turkey carcass and bones and whatever else I can salvage from the bird will go into the freezer for turkey bone gumbo the following weekend.
So there you have it! Thanksgiving at the Craigar household has been planned and should be somewhat stress free.
That reminds me...stock up on whiskey.
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It's good that you looked at all the good options presented here and chose the one you and Jill are most comfortable with. Avoiding drama, as you say, is a good path to travel, as long as the way is pretty clear without too many bumps along the way.
Have a great Thanksgiving. I really like your T'giving weekend menus.
KathrynLast edited by fzxdoc; November 12, 2021, 03:19 PM. -
It's great to hear that you have figured out ahead of time your plan and you and your wife are on the same page. It helps when you both have the same end goal and can align your thoughts and not be at each other on top of all the other family drama. Your weekend meals sound pretty darn good to me!
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I would still spatchcock and smoke a very small turkey. Eat the main one out of respect, but have yours over there somewhere. Your MIL will not be able to resist having a little bite, even if it's when no one's looking. Just might win her over!Comment
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Huskee I went through the same thing with Jill the first couple of years we were together. She finally came around and will only eat steak if I'm cooking it. Her mom would pan fry steaks until they were shoe leather. I finally talked her into ordering her first steak at a restaurant a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the $55 ala carte filet wasn't all that good. Meat quality was the culprit. So, she will never order another steak in a restaurant again...only seafood. -
Craigar, I won my wife over with this reasoning as well, she orders MR now. And my kids too, I taught them right from when they were little! Now teaching them that working outside involves more than 20min raking then dropping the rake where they stand and saying "good enough" for the day, I have yet to get across.
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What about a fatties ( aka bacon explosion ). As an appetizer, wouldn't compete with the main meal.
Regarding their dry turkey, do they brine it? I find a wet brine helps a lot.Last edited by Murdy; November 12, 2021, 02:41 PM.Comment
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