Thanksgiving at my brother's

Whoo hoo! For one of the first times in years, I didn't host Thanksgiving at my house. Instead, we went down to Bro and Sis-in-law's down in Wilmington. Bro had always wanted to try a deep-fried turkey, especially since he now resides in the South. Hub picked up a fryer at Home Depot a few days ago, and since then, the two of them have been studying up on the dangers and methods of using the thing.

1. Make sure the turkey is completely defrosted (or fresh, which is the option we went for) and dry. If not, kaboom!
2. Make sure the fryer is outside, not under a roof, and not on a combustible surface (we had it on the patio surrounded by sand). If not, kaboom!
3. Make sure the oil is not too hot and not overfilled. If not, kaboom!

The guys did a fantastic job, and the turkeys were amazing (they did two). I've cooked a lot of turkeys in my life, have done some pretty interesting things like injecting them with wine/butter solutions, roasting them in a bag, brining, etc. I've even roasted a goose. Never has the carcass been subject to every single adult picking at it. And a super-bonus is that the oven was free to make/heat big pans of macaroni & cheese, stuffing, dinner rolls, sweet potato casserole, turnips & greens, gravy...the only "missing" item was mashed potatoes, but since Sis wasn't with us, no-one cared.

My contribution to the meal was to make two pies and bring the leftover frozen turnips and turnip greens from my last big dinner party. I actually made a fresh pumpkin pie, which was 100 times better than any pumpkin pie I've ever had before. I don't usually like pumpkin pie, to tell the truth. This was great. I'll post the recipe when I get back home. The other pie was a chocolate scotch pecan pie, also delicious. Kiddo helped me in the preparation of both...if by "helping" we can also include the slurping of leftover pumpkin pie filling with a spoon.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!