Turkey Throwdown Finale - Finally!

Grab yourself a cup of hot cocoa & sit down...
this is gonna take me a sec!

Well, Thank You for choosing to tune back in for the finale...
I know that the wait has been painful & unusually long...
I know that you are SOOOOO sick of hearing
about the crazy Turkey Throwdown...
I mean, you have probably been
thinking - C'mon, you
freak...Just tell
us who the
winner
is!


And so - I will proceed with the final moments...

9:30am: Jen reluctantly peeks at Tom's temp...

And what to her wondering eyes did appear?

Tom = 165 degrees

And so, Jen's "near" perfectly roasted turkey...

shall sit...

for nearly 2 hours ...

before the Thanksgiving Meal is served.

9:45am: Jen is B-U-M-M-E-D. Greg is G-L-O-A-T-I-N-G.

Tom is D-R-Y-I-N-G out.

Now, I will spare you all of the other boring junk that happened between 9:45am & 11:05.

11:05am: Poppa, Nanny, Wyatt, & Avery arrive!

11:15am: Nanny makes gravy (because Jen is CLUELESS on turkey gravy - I'm all about sausage gravy with biscuits but, turkey gravy, not so much).

11:30am: Thanksgiving Lunch is served!

Let the JUDGING begin!

Now, hindsight being 20/20 - ideally we would have blind-folded Poppa (Jen's Dad, for those of you who do not know who the judge is) - but, since Jen was FRANTIC about getting the meal on before another droplet of juicy goodness emerged from Tom...the blind taste test did not occur.

For those of you who do not know "Poppa" - he is a man of MANY words...and he's NEVER afraid to use MANY of them to express whatever random thought might be rolling through his big brain! Poppa can be brutally honest...and yet, so lovable... all at the same time. =)

Isn't he adorable?

I love you, Daddy!
(brown-nosing the judge AFTER the fact, is allowed)

I must be completely honest here...upon seeing my turkey being carved into...it was apparent that Tom was NOT as juicy as what Jen had anticipated. (I was really disappointed.)
And, if we are judging this competition SOLELY on "Juiciness" -
Jen quickly admits that Henrietta turned out noticeably juicier than Tom.

11:35am: Poppa takes his first bite of Greg's brined & smoked turkey....followed by a bite of Jen's brined & roasted turkey. He tries both dark meat & white meat - and portions from identical sections of both birds.

Here is Tom - his insides looked a little funky & disturbing...
so I spared you the sight:


Notice the very last minute & bizarre garnish...NOT what I had originally intended...BUT, it'll do in a pinch! Darn those ridiculous looking wings...and the crazy legs that started out all snugly tucked under the cool flap of skin that Butterball already had ready for me. Nice string, eh?
Hey, it's all about the TASTE, right??

And, here is Henrietta the Hen:
(not sure if Greg named her or not...)


I MUST say, my darling husband, your bird is quite lovely!

* Poppa is STILL reluctant to state who's cuisine reigns supreme...*

Although my dad has made positive comments about each of our entries...he is still hesitant to name a WINNER - however - Jen can tell that Poppa seems to prefer Henrietta over Tom.

And that is OK!

Listen, had this been a Green Bean Throwdown, or perhaps...a Sweet Potato Throwdown...or a Strawberry Pretzel Salad Throwdown...or even a Mashed Potato Throwdown...Jen would absolutely be the winner - hands down! Did I mention that my green beans kicked booty?!

But, Poppa - being the generous (and wise) man that he is...

declared the 2008 Thanksgiving Turkey Throwdown...

a TIE!



You see, as Nanny put it...It's like comparing Apples to Oranges - you just cannot expect the same taste or texture from the two - they must not be compared.

Did I mention that Nanny is also very wise?

12:00pm: Jen & Greg lift their turkey platters to discover something very exciting...

Cha-Ching!

"Winner, winner...chicken dinner!"
(as my brother sings)

Oh, and let's not forget...it was a "TIE"...

And yes, I received a certificate too!
(the pic was really blurry...I'll try again later)

WOO-HOO - Let's CELEBRATE!

Umm, well - I mean...

~ THE END ~

Well, there you have it!

Hope it was worth the wait?

**OH! And the moral of this story: "Poppa's no dummy!"**

Love to All!

P.S. - There WILL be a re-match in 2009!
I know ALL the tricks now...