Tremendous Turkey!

I know you've all been waiting with baited breath to see how my Thanksgiving feast turned out. ;)  It was a success!  We had a HUGE Turkey this year.  I think it's the biggest I've ever cooked here: 8kg = 17lbs!  Not bad for a Spanish bird that's being fattened for Christmas and not late Nov; a respectable weight by all accounts.

Steaming hot turkey. :)  This year I just filled it with apples and onions like my dad always does.

This year I brined it just like last year and I also took it out of the oven a wee bit early.  I put the turkey in our oven on low at 9am and by 3pm we were too hungry to wait any longer.  They say poultry should get up to 180º F, but I took it out around 175º.  No harm done because it was definitely cooked and very moist and tender.  Everyone assured me that it was better than last year's despite looking a bit peaked because we didn't broil it long enough without the foil covering.  Still, it was delicious.  And even after divvying up the meat, I've been eating turkey in some form or other all week and still have plenty that I'll need to freeze!  Ah, the joys of leftovers!

My chorizo stuffing was a hit with my nephews as I'd suspected and the sweet potato pie came out beautifully!  I think I like it more than pumpkin!  It was obviously much easier to make, especially here where Libby's canned pumpkin doesn't exist...  and since the batter was thicker it firmed up more nicely in the oven.  The flavor was fabulous and everyone said it was better than last year's (I didn't tell them it wasn't pumpkin!). :)

I'm getting to be quite a professional turkey carver. ;)

Desserts were the only thing we had too much of... is that possible?