You've Started to Thaw That Turkey...Now What?

Bob has always said he loved me, but something about it just wasn't official until I took over Thanksgiving for both of our families.

The first year I hosted Thanksgiving, I was 21 and had no idea what the hell I was doing. I remember sitting on the couch the night before Thanksgiving googling "easy turkey recipes" and most importantly "turkey recipes no marinade". It seems that everything I came across was asking you to soak your turkey in a 5 gallon bucket overnight in a concoction of ingredients I had never even heard of. Finally, I came across this one. I almost didn't want to try it because it seemed too good to be true, but when it's 3am and you have a toddler that gets up before sunrise, you're willing to compromise. 

Needless to say, the turkey was a HUGE success and honestly, it was the best one any of us had ever eaten. So, for the 7th year in a row, this is the turkey that I will, again, be making. My kitchen skills have improved vastly over the years, but I'm telling you, there isn't anything out there that can beat this one :)

What you need:
A turkey! (We usually use one about 18 pounds or so)
1 stick of butter (8 tablespoons)
4 cups of warm water
4 chicken bullion cubes
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons dried minced onion
2 tablespoons seasoning salt

That's it! Seriously...

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Rinse off your turkey and remove the giblets. (You can put them in the pan later if you like that sort of thing, but I think they're gross)

Plop your turkey down in the roasting pan. Take your stick of butter and divide into tablespoons. Using a sharp knife, cut slits in the skin of the turkey. 4 on each side. Wiggle your finger under the skin so you can create pockets just large enough to place your squares of butter. This is what is going to keep the breast meat moist as it's baking. It looks weird now, but I promise it'll be beautiful when it's done. 

In a medium sized mixing bowl, dissolve your bullion cubes in your 4 cups of warm water, then add the parsley and minced onion. Stir these together, then carefully pour over your turkey. 

Sprinkle your 2 tablespoons of seasoning salt evenly over the turkey.

Cover the turkey with foil and put it in the oven to bake. For the 18ish pound turkey I usually make, cook time is around 5 hours. You'll obviously have to adjust the time accordingly depending on size. Be sure to remove the foil about 45 minutes before it's done so the turkey will brown nicely. 

There you have it! Told ya it was easy :)