Turkey Time

2013 has been a wonderful year and we have many things to be thankful for.  It would have been nice to have been able to keep up on our blog so we would have the memories throughout the year.  I guess that is my 2014 New Year's resolution.

The 2nd Annual Rouse Texas Thanksgiving was a big success.  We outdid ourselves this year with the number of guests and the food prepared.  

First up - the thanksgiving brine.  This brine mix was one I found online.  This is the second turkey I have cooked, but this is the first time I haver used a brine and the first time cooking a turkey on the Big Green Egg.

After soaking the turkey in the brine for 24 hours, the bird was ready to be smoked.

After doing my research I had estimated that this guy should smoke for about 4 hours.  The turkey ended up being done a little sooner, but was able to keep it on the egg.

And it turned out fantastic.  I was so anxious to cut into it and see the results of all of the work that I didn't take a picture.  But I promise you this, we will be smoking a turkey from here on out.

The guest list included visitors from Ohio and North Carolina, along with our Texas Family.

- Keith & Tess - Ohio

- Alison, Alan, Stella & Phoenix - North Carolina

- David, Hannah & Shane - Ohio

- Tom, Rita, Tommy & Ryan Angeloni - Texas

- Jill & Anna Angeloni - Texas

- Chris Jr, and his two little girls, Hannah and Heidi - Texas

Needless to say we had a full house and it was great to be able to share with everyone.

These kiddos played so well together and had so much fun visiting with their cousins.

We even heated the pool for a little Thanksgiving swim.  Can't wait to see the gas bill next month.  But it sure was worth it for a day to see everyone having fun jumping in.

Our visitors from out of town came and left in stages, from Tuesday through Monday, with all of them staying with us.

After the holiday was over and smoking a 19 lb turkey (with plenty of leftovers), I decided that a brisket for the Ohio St / _ichagan game was the right answer.  So I started that process Friday night for the food to be ready for the game on Saturday.

What a game this year!  Even thoough Ohio State was ranked #3 and _ichigan was unranked, they were looking to play the spoiler in the Buckeyes quest to go undefeated and extend their win streak to 24-0.  When these two teams play, you can pretty much throw the rankings out the window, they always seem to be close matches.

This year the Buckeyes hung on to win 42 - 41 as _ichigan tried to go for the win with a 2 pt conversion, unsuccessful.