14 December 2007

Pimp my bird...

Christmas is coming and soon the grocery stores will be filled with customers frantically shopping for their huge and gluttonous festive dinners. Only a few months after Thanksgiving, I don’t exactly relish the thought of eating a huge turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Most people think I’m crazy, but I honestly find that the old tried and true holiday fare can get a little bland. If it were up to me, I’d eat curry at Christmas!

Being the ever-so-thoughtful gal that I am, this year I decided to host Christmas dinner for both sides of me and hubby’s family. I figured that I could muster cooking for 11 people in order to give others a relaxing holiday for a change. Besides, this would pretty much let me off the hook for a few years right? No problem really; I’m happy to do it.

When recently sifting through recipes, in passing I mentioned to my brother that I was considering NOT making a turkey this year. Between dividing Christmas dinners with multiple families, I figured that people might grow tired of the usual gobbler. However, my brother was quick to inform me that, "No turkey on Christmas day would be a monumental letdown for everyone,” which is very easy to say when you’re not the one cooking it. Needless to say, my dreams of a beautiful, spicy succulent roast fizzled at that moment and I resigned to the fact that I would have to tackle my arch nemesis once more – “Damn you, stupid bird!”

Now as a hostess, I must admit that I can sometimes be quite selfish in my selection of dishes. As a general rule, I typically won’t put my name on anything that I don’t care for. It’s not that I don’t like turkey; it’s quite tasty. What sometimes bothers me is its lack of zip. Perhaps I messed up my taste buds from too many spicy dishes lately, but I have a really hard time settling for generic flavours. I much rather my food hit me over the head and scream, “Hello!” In other words, I want something that leaves a bit of an impression…preferably a good one. I’m sorry but the “just add brown gravy for taste” no longer works for me.

All this turkey apathy got me to thinking, if Exhibit can pimp "rides" (street lingo for ‘car’ by the way), then surely I can “pimp” my bird...right?

With only two weeks until Christmas, my goal is to settle on something that will satisfy traditionalists and modernists alike - conventional turkey goodness with a subtle hint of wow! Who knows, perhaps I will push the envelope and jazz up the other classics….now the wheels are truly starting to spin. Deck the halls with Malox and Tums…Jenny’s in the kitchen and it ain’t gonna be normal –ha!

Stay tuned for post Christmas blogging, with pictures of the feast to end all feasts!

1 comment:

Liz said...

You know, I just made a roast last week and they suggested cutting slices in the top and shoving sliced up garlic in there. Maybe you could do something like that to "spice up" the gobbler? I also usually do a "spice rub" I buy fresh herbs and then mix them together and rub them all over the turkey with salt and pepper and it seems to give the skin a nice kick. The other option is to baste 15 minutes.

Good Luck! hosting two dinners is very ambitious. Since all of my family is in Waterloo I'm off the hook XP