Roast Turkey

12 lb - 20 lb. turkey, defrosted in original plastic bag in refrig. (24 hr. for ea. 5 lb.) or wrap in several layers of newspaper; place in paper bag and thaw one hr. per lb at room temperature.

The evening before dinner:

Wash turkey under cold running water, inside and out. Pull pin feathers. Remove giblets. Dry thoroughly inside and out. Put giblets in large saucepan; cover with cold water. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat several hrs. Store overnight in fridge.

Salt the turkey inside. Fill with dressing at both ends (I make a cornbread dressing outside of the turkey.)

Close ends with skewers or by sewing with button thread.

Smear the outside of the turkey with several Tbsp. of margarine. Salt and pepper outside.

Tie a heavy string loosely around the bird to hold wings against body and also anchor the ends of the drumsticks. Put a trivet in the bottom of a large toasting pan. Place bird on trivet breast side up.

Cover entirely with heavy duty foil, tucking around the edges of the turkey. I do this after Thanksgiving Eve church services so by the time the bird is ready for the oven I'm ready for bed. Set the oven for 275° and cook the turkey for 30 min. per lb..

If you have a reliable automatic oven, set it to turn off the oven in the required amount of time. Otherwise, set your alarm. (To be honest, the darned bird usually smells so good by the time it is cooked that you are awakened by the odor.)

Thanksgiving Day:

Anyway, you turn off the oven but leave the turkey right there until about an hour before dinner. If you have only one oven, this does require some pre-planning of where you're going to bake pies, etc.. But remove the turkey from the oven, set oven at 325° and while it is heating, brush the bird with those lovely drippings in the bottom of the roaster. Put it back in the oven; check it and baste every 15 min. or until nicely browned. While this is going on, you are making gravey with those giblets and broth and cooking the cornbread dressing.