Before we get to dinner and the leftovers…
A TURKEY TALE
I ordered a 10 lb. turkey from D’Artagnan in October. Before putting in the order, I spoke to a customer rep who recommended I choose the earliest of the delivery dates so that if there was a problem, there would still be plenty of time for the bird to arrive. I chose Friday, November 20th, after she assured me the fresh, cryovacked turkey would be fine in the fridge until Thanksgiving Day, the 26th (and even until Sunday, the 29th).
Even though there would only be the two of us for Thanksgiving Day dinner, I didn’t hesitate to get a whole turkey because Michael LOVES turkey and could, if it came to it (which it wouldn’t), finish the whole bird off by himself in a few days. As for me, while turkey isn’t my favorite fowl, I’m o.k. with eating it as long as there is lots of gravy. Also, there are things I make with the leftovers that we both like. And, of course, there are the delicious “trimmings.”
Because I had ordered several times before from D’Artagnan, I knew their SOP. The day before a delivery date, I always received an email informing me that my order was shipped and providing a FedEx tracking number. So, when no such email arrived by late afternoon on November 19th, I called. The customer rep said that not getting that email did not mean I would not be getting the turkey. She checked and my order number was, indeed, on the list. The next morning, an email did arrive. But it was not the usual. Instead, it was an apology. My turkey was going to be late and would be arriving on Saturday, November 21st. O.K….
On Friday, the 20th, around 3 p.m., Michael happened to look out our front door and yelled to me (I was in the kitchen) that the D’Artagnan delivery had arrived. When he opened to the door take in the box, he discovered that there were two D’Artagnan boxes. When we opened them, each contained a 10 lb. turkey. Yes! We had TWO turkeys!
I immediately called customer service to inform them that we’d mistakenly received two turkeys. “Oh, my!” she said. Of course, we wouldn’t be charged (the charge for the turkey had appeared on my October bill which had already been paid), so she said we should enjoy it as a gift. But there was something else that needed to be addressed. I told her about the email received that morning indicating that a turkey was going to be delivered the next day (Saturday), and when she checked her list, my order number was still on there! And when I checked my account on the website, it still said “Processing.” Ergo, no indication that a turkey had been shipped to us, let alone two! If something wasn’t done ASAP, we’d be getting another turkey! The customer rep said she would call the warehouse toute de suite and have them remove our order from the list.
That should have been the end of it. But it was not. Saturday morning, I received another apology email stating that my turkey would now be arriving on Tuesday, November 24th. What?!! Obviously, the rep’s call to the warehouse on Friday hadn’t achieved its purpose. Customer service is only available Monday through Friday. On Monday, by the time I was able to speak to a rep and explain to him my turkey situation, he told me his info showed that my order had been picked up by FedEx. The best he could do was try to recall it. If that didn’t work, turkey #3 would arrive. Next, I received an email showing that FedEx did, indeed, have the turkey, and the tracking number showed delivery by the end of day on Tuesday. Oy! But then Tuesday morning, miracle of miracles, I received three emails at once advising that I would NOT be receiving my package because the sender had recalled it. Oh, frabjous day!
Back to the two turkeys residing in the frig. No way was I going to roast two turkeys for our Thanksgiving Day dinner. Michael suggested I roast the second one right after we finished eating the leftovers from the first. I wasn’t keen on that, so we agreed to have it sometime down the road. The two were nearly equal in weight, one 10 lbs. 4 oz., the other 10 lbs. 3 oz. I froze the “smaller” one.
THANKSGIVING DAY DINNER

I salted and peppered the bird inside and out; put onions, garlic, rosemary and sage into the cavity; brushed the skin with peanut oil; and roasted it using full convection.

Only 10 lbs. and roasted that way, it didn’t take long to finish (less than 2 hours). And the beautifully browned skin was crispy.

While the bird was roasting, I prepared turkey broth with the giblets and used it along with the pan drippings to make gravy after the turkey was out of the oven and resting.

Turkey Gravy
I finished preparing all the “trimmings.”

Dressing

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans Almondine
To start:

Beer and Ketchup Meatballs
Michael drank a small glass of the beer used in the meatball sauce.


Main Course Extravaganza
(Michael always gets the drumsticks.)
Are you wondering why no cranberry sauce on that plate? Oops! I forgot to take the can out of the fridge. By the time I saw it sitting there, we had just finished the main course. Undaunted, Michael insisted I open it. A good “excuse” for him to have more turkey! I was too full.

He drank this wine with the main course.

I didn’t make a dessert. Michael had his favorite dessert, ice cream, and after I finished cleaning up, I had a black and white ice cream soda.
ABOUT THE LEFTOVERS
Friday
Lunch:

Turkey Sub
Dinner: A reprise of yesterday’s dinner with some changes.
Instead of meatballs, we started with Vegetable Liver.

For the main course, there was plenty of turkey and gravy left and sufficient dressing. Only a little bit left of the sweet potatoes, so I added mashed potatoes covered with gravy. Instead of green beans, I roasted some broccoli. And I did not forget the cranberry sauce!

Michael’s Plate

My Plate
Saturday
Lunch: Turkey and Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Dressing, and Cranberry Sauce (No photo)
Dinner:

Individual Turkey Pot Pies
Sunday
I finished stripping all the meat off the carcass and used it to make lots of turkey broth.
Lunch:

Turkey Soup
Dinner:

Turkey Croquettes with Fried Spaghetti
Monday
Lunch:

Turkey Noodle Soup
Tuesday
Lunch: Michael had another Turkey Sub. Using up the last of the turkey and gravy, I had an Open-faced Turkey Sandwich on one slice of white bread. (No photo)
As you can see, it didn’t take us too long to finish off a 10 lb. turkey.