Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Visiting family, eating well, watching football. and relaxing.  As someone pointed out on a blog I read (can't remember which one), there are no gifts involved which takes away some of the busyness and stress of Christmas leaving more time to relax.

The last few years we have had Thanksgiving at our house which has been nice not to have to travel.  This year we traveled to Rockford since one of my brother-in-laws and his family flew in from Arizona.  We hadn't seen them for quite a while so this was nice.  When we come to Rockford and stay at my parents house, I get to sleep in my old room which is always nice.  I grew up in a small neighborhood with only 13 houses and every time I come home, I think of my childhood friends and what house they use to live in.  Back then, we didn't have Xbox, Ipods, cell phones or even cable TV, so we played outside, a lot.  We would often be out all day and come home when we got hungry.  The neighborhood has changed over the years.  The corn field we used to play in across the street, and pick corn for the farmer in the summer, is now full of duplexes and small businesses.  All my friend's parents have moved away except for three. The road leading to the neighbor hood is now four lanes instead of a two lane country road.  My parents street even has a stop light!  It's still nice to be home.

I'm in charge of grilling the bird.  My dad taught me a super easy way to do it that turns out great every time.  All you need is a Weber grill, side racks to hold the charcoal, a turkey rack, 12-14 pound turkey, olive oil and Lowrey season salt.  Rub the oil on the bird then coat liberally with season salt.  After the coals are hot, put the bird on the grill uncovered.  Add 5-10 pieces of charcoal every 45 minutes or so and loosely cover the turkey with aluminum foil when adding the first set of coals. Then cook until the thickest part is 165F (about 15-20 minutes per pound).  Perfect every time.

Happy Thanksgiving!