Happy Holiday Thread (for all major holidays)

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate this day!!!

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Amen! Thanksgiving reminds each of us to be thankful for all of God's blessings, celebrated with a gathering of family/friends, and a feast to fellowship.

A special Thanksgiving prayer for Jeff today, Jeff praying for your life, health, and peace Brother!
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
Happy Thanksgiving guys! Turkey time!! Mine is in the oven now!

So vesicles, do you cook the turkey, or does wifey cook??? My son and son in law are deep frying a ham, (sorry to my muslim brothers) and a turkey, and my wifey/daughter are roasting a turkey. We are expecting 40 people in and out, so a big day, with all the kids, spouses, and grandchildren home, except for Baxie, who is at Ft. Benning with her boyfriends Mom, Dad, and little sister, hoping to have Thanksgiving dinner with her boyfriend, who is through the 1st stage of Army Basic, and has entered the second stage?? (16 weeks).

Wishing some of you friends could join us, two of my son-in-laws are US ARMY, Dan reserves now, Jeremy active duty reserve now, Mollie's boyfriend is a Marine, and Baxie's will finish basic in January..... he is loving it, and the fastest guy in his squad! went through the "gas chamber" the second time just for fun. So four of my seven daughter's are military wives/girlfriends and proud of it!
 

vesicles

Colonel
So vesicles, do you cook the turkey, or does wifey cook??? My son and son in law are deep frying a ham, (sorry to my muslim brothers) and a turkey, and my wifey/daughter are roasting a turkey. We are expecting 40 people in and out, so a big day, with all the kids, spouses, and grandchildren home, except for Baxie, who is at Ft. Benning with her boyfriends Mom, Dad, and little sister, hoping to have Thanksgiving dinner with her boyfriend, who is through the 1st stage of Army Basic, and has entered the second stage?? (16 weeks).

Wishing some of you friends could join us, two of my son-in-laws are US ARMY, Dan reserves now, Jeremy active duty reserve now, Mollie's boyfriend is a Marine, and Baxie's will finish basic in January..... he is loving it, and the fastest guy in his squad! went through the "gas chamber" the second time just for fun. So four of my seven daughter's are military wives/girlfriends and proud of it!

I do the cooking at home. Wife does the dishes. I enjoy cooking very much. In fact, Food network is one of my favorite channels. I am especially excited about BBQ and grilling. So Thanksgiving turkey is my job and passion.

I tried deep frying the bird once a couple years back. It was not pretty. Almost burnt down the house... we were lucky that the fire extinguisher that we bought when we moved in still worked... my wife literally forbids me to deep fry it again...

so just plain roasting today. It was fantastic. Juicy and delicious. I also roasted a piece of pork belly with skin. It took me years to figure out how to get crispy skin. Oh I wish you guys could come and taste my pork belly. It's absolutely amazing.
 

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
I do the cooking at home. Wife does the dishes. I enjoy cooking very much. In fact, Food network is one of my favorite channels. I am especially excited about BBQ and grilling. So Thanksgiving turkey is my job and passion.

I tried deep frying the bird once a couple years back. It was not pretty. Almost burnt down the house... we were lucky that the fire extinguisher that we bought when we moved in still worked... my wife literally forbids me to deep fry it again...

so just plain roasting today. It was fantastic. Juicy and delicious. I also roasted a piece of pork belly with skin. It took me years to figure out how to get crispy skin. Oh I wish you guys could come and taste my pork belly. It's absolutely amazing.

I thought as much, I do the grilling at our house, but my wifey always did better with a steak on the stove. I fry sliced taters and onions, not so much since my little Dr. put me on a serious diet, but that Pork Belly sounds divine, and that crispy skin would be worth a trip to Texas.

So you BBQ as well??? love good BBQ

On a sad note today, our boy Mitchell, Mollie's Marine, did not get adopted under the adopt a Marine program, the chow hall was closed, so he had to buy a sandwich from the little store on post. He's at Pendleton, a great kid, I feel so bad for him. Baxie did get to see eat Thanksgiving Dinner with Blane today at Ft. Benning, they were thrilled, she's spending the night in Nashville tonight, and home tomorrow.
 

vesicles

Colonel
how do you get the pork skin crispy

Hahaha! The key is low and slow and then broil. You want to score the skin side on the pork belly. First rub your pork belly with spices of your choice (I came up with a combination of 10 spices). Then put it in your oven pre-heated to ~190 deg F for about 2-3h depending on how big the belly is. My pork belly is about 1 Ib, the typical 3 layer pork belly piece. This allows most of the grease to be either absorbed or cooked out. Then increase the temp to about 420 deg F for another 45min. The internal temp should be between 190-200 deg F (pork should be done at 160 deg F but a higher temp will melt the gelatins and make the meat very tender). Then switch off the oven and turn on the broiler to high. The direct heat will "scorch" the skin. You will actually see the skin ballooning up like popcorn. This way, the skin is very crispy and meat is very tender.
 
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