In late to this thread.. but I was never a giant turkey fan until introduced to a proper brined bird that I ended up smoking. Good enough that my entire staff at my store procured a 25# locally grown bird that they want me to fix for our company holiday party. I then pick the carcass clean, boil down the bones and left overs to make broth, and make a killer turkey soup and dumplings.
It's the green bean casserole I can't stand
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Baked turkey...meh.
Smoked turkey...very good.
Fried turkey...effin great!
Also low and slow smoked bone in ham, cornbread dressing, whipped potatoes, giblet gravy, other veggie side dishes, yeast rolls, and my irresistible smoked red beans and rice with jalapeno cheddar cornbread.
There's usually lots of dessert but my favorite is my Mom's pumpkin pie.