Thanksgiving Checklist: Magazine Cover-Worthy Turkey

Our Golden Turkey from Thanksgiving 2010

Perhaps it is the over-achiever in me, but I cannot help but wanting my Thanksgiving turkeys to look like those on the magazine cover.  Southern Living (of which the November edition every year is akin to the September Issue of Vogue) has a nice piece about how wanting such turkeys is overrated. But, I don't care. I like Norman-Rockwell, magazine-worthy turkeys.  Over the past several years that I have had occasion to make my own turkey, I've learned a few tricks that I wanted to share with all Good Life followers.  The Number One Rule: Butter. Go ahead, use it and use lots of it.  It is the one day a year that you can. For the most golden of turkeys, spread sticks and sticks of butter all over the outer skin of the bird before putting it in the oven.  I call this the annual "butter bath."  Then, be sure to baste the turkey frequently.  For a nice turkey essence, be sure to stuff the turkey with sage, green apples, and onions.  We stuffed ours last year with quite a few onions and then served the baked onions as a side dish.  While some people like to stuff their turkey with "stuffing" my Southern roots taught me to make the dressing  (we call it "dressing" not "stuffing") separately and serve alongside the turkey.  (Some people in the South do stuff their turkeys, but they do so while calling the stuffing "dressing."  Here is a nice piece on the difference). The Butter Ball site has helpful information about how to cook turkey and how much to buy.