Tryptophan Overdose

Do you remember how excited I was to try brining a turkey?

I wasn't completely sure about it, but 

we decided to go ahead and give it a try.

Just for the record, brining a turkey is a huge pain in the ass.

It is much easier to throw the bird in a bag and roast it.

I insisted that Mardell buy a big bird as I wanted left-overs.

We are usually sensible and buy a bird that will feed our crew for Thanksgiving dinner and one or two more meals.  There are never left-overs to speak of.  Well, with the exception of that nasty cherry gross jello that Mary always wants at holidays.  It falls into the category of green bean casserole except it is prettier to look at.

At any rate, she bought a big bird.

No! Not Big Bird, a big bird, a 17 pound turkey!

(Keep in mind that there were only two of us this year!)

I went to every grocery store in this town looking for fresh herbs.

Trust me when I say the Food Network lies when they say you can buy fresh herbs in any supermarket.  Actually, had I wanted chives or tarragon, I would have been in business.

I did find fresh bay leaves and I am now wondering what to do with the remaining 39 leaves!

At any rate, I put together the brine and we let the bird soak overnight.

Mixed together the butter concoction and rubbed and massaged the bird.

Prepped the veggies and broth mixture for the roaster and lovingly placed the bird atop its throne of carrots, apples, onions, garlic and cinnamon sticks.  I interrupted my nap every thirty minutes to baste the bird. It was beautiful when it was done.  The skin was roasted a dark golden brown and the smell was out of this world.

We let the bird rest while we prepared the rest of our feast.

It was truly a wonderful meal.  

However, we had so much food that we 

each ate only one slice of turkey.

We decided that we would eat more later .... 

and then opted for pie and ice cream instead.

Since we didn't have any room in our fridge, 

we checked the temperature of the enclosed patio

and deemed it a suitable refrigerator.  

We covered the turkey with aluminum foil and 

securely put the lid back on the roaster and set it on the step.

Can you predict where this is going?

This is what remained this morning.

Do you remember I said we each ate only one slice ..... 

of a 17 POUND BIRD?!!!

This is what a tryptophan overdose looks like!

Six hours later and this guy's STILL snoozin'

These two look like they ate the proverbial canary  turkey.

I'm sure Mom is sitting somewhere laughing her ass off!