Hosting Thanksgiving : Champagne Turkey Recipe

My absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving is cooking the turkey! There is something about getting up early with my son Cashton and prepping the bird while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This year after my prep work was done I made everyone a light egg cup breakfast ( I will share this easy recipe in a future blog) and headed off to a holiday spin class with my sisters-in-law. It felt great to get our sweat on for 45mins at CycleBar, especially knowing the feast ahead.   

My goal was to have my 18lb turkey in the oven by 11am which is why I rinsed the dry brine off the turkey,  made the bird stuffing, and marinated the veggies for the pan before I left for spin. That way all I had to do when we got home was throw the veggies in the bottom of the pan, stuff the bird and get that big boy in the oven! 

Here is my recipe for the perfect champagne turkey. 

Shopping List:

Turkey

William Sonoma Dry Brine

Brine Bag

Champagne 

Carrots

Celery 

Garlic

Shallots

Rosemary 

Chicken Stock

Butter

Seasoning 

Stuffing (I use Stove Top Turkey Stuffing) 

Twine

Tin Foil  

Directions: 

• 24 hours before cooking, take thawed turkey and rub with dry brine. Place in brine bag and refrigerate overnight. 
• This is an optional step but you can marinate your veggies in chicken stock the night before as well. Just mix carrots, shallots, garlic, and celery in a large zip lock bag and add stock.
• The next morning rinsed brine off bird and dry. Place on rack in roasting pan and mix melted butter and seasoning together. Brush bird with mixture and slide a few slices of butter under the skin around the breast. Garnish with rosemary. 
• Add veggies to the bottom of the roasting pan. The veggies and drippings are AMAZING when done.
• Make Stove Top stuffing. I recommend 3 boxes. 
• Stuff bird right before baking and tie legs together with twine. 
• Bake at 350. The time is based on the weight of your turkey but I have included a time to weight chart below. 
• Let bake uncovered for 30 mins only basting with chicken stock until skin is browned, then cover with tin foil and start alternating between champagne and stock every 30 mins. 

Caramel Apple Mimosa:

If you listen to our show you may know that my mother is a wonderful bartender and she always comes up with the most amazing cocktails for my events and holiday parties. This year she opted to make a Caramel Apple Mimosa for our brunch spread before Thanksgiving dinner. Here is what you need to make this sparkling beauty happen! 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz of Stoli Vanilla Vodka

Apple Cider

Prosecco

Ice

Garnish with rosemary and whole cranberries 

Caramel, cinnamon, and sugar for the rim

Table Design: 

When it comes to table design, I have been working on this look for weeks. I really wanted to use our wedding china that we have only pulled out a handful of times in 10 years. I revolved our silver Vera Wang Grosgrain settings and chargers around the soft gold hues that our dining room is decorated in. I enhanced these colors by renting gold Chiavari chairs from Party Reflections and adding white and gold pumpkins along with crystal candlestick holders for our centerpieces. To keep these colors from falling flat I wove eucalyptus garland through the table runner for a pop of green.

Our Aupair Elena was sweet enough to help me with place cardholders. I have terrible handwriting and I am well aware of it. Elena also helped me with the labels from Cashton's birthday party so I knew she was the right person for the job! I found some adorable Thanksgiving place cards at Sur la table. They were 2 dimensional and featured a turkey with real feathers for some holiday flare. 

When we sat down for dinner this year I started to reflect on our Thanksgiving holidays of the past and decided that this Thanksgiving was my favorite of all. It's not often you can get BOTH sides of your family together, especially when they are scattered along the east coast. This year's turkey feast left me feeling extra loved and blessed like no other. 

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Mrs Dash Tacos

I believe that “beauty” is more than what we put on our skin, it is also affected by what we put into our bodies! Thus my “beauty blog” will include a health and fitness aspect  too! Listen, bottom line is … You get out of your body what you put in. If you drink a ton of sugary drinks ( ice teas, juices, sodas) you may fall victim to acne, wavering weight issues and be at a higher risk for Diabetes.  If you drink lots of water and consume preservative free and fresh foods ( Fruits, veggies, hormone free meats) you will see your skin improve, your energy levels sky rocket and you will decrease the amount off time you spend sick. 

It’s sad to think how much food has changed since we were little and our parents passed on their eating habits to us. It use to be that you ate the 7 food groups ( or food pyramid) and colors of the rainbow and all was fine and dandy. Now, it’s so much more than that! After sifting through years of fad diets and quick tricks to reach my “target weight” I’ve realized my health is more than just a number. 

About 3 years ago I met with fitness and nutrition guru, Brook Eneas,  to discuss a life style change I knew I needed. Since I thought I was already eating pretty clean , Eneas had me track my current dietary habits via the “Livestrong” app on my phone. After about a week, we met again to go through my food log line by line. Not only was I lacking vital nutrients ( which I am now taking a multi vitamin, vitamin C and B-complex as well as a wheat grass supplement to help with my irregularity) I was consuming foods I THOUGHT were healthy. Things like fat free milk (that are enhanced with hormones and pasteurized), and lean cuisens (which are full of sodium and preservatives)  I was about to cut all of my favorite foods out of my diet … or so i thought! 

Over the next few months I decided to get a little creative. While Eneas taught me to shop on the outside of the grocery store to avoid many of the preservative rich foods that make us hold weight , I wasn’t ready to give up on tacos, pastas and pizzas for good. lol So I set out to create healthy versions of these foods I could enjoy on a normal basis. First up was pasta! After a little research I realized I could sub pasta for zucchini and a veggie shredder. I also learned that you can make pizza crust out of quinoa or cauliflower!  It was these simple changes that would allow me to have the best of BOTH worlds! 

Today l want to share some simple swaps for one of my favorite meals… Tacos. First lets trade ground beef for lean ground turkey and instead of traditional taco mix, which is loaded with sodium, let’s grab a Mrs Dash Taco mix from the spice isle. (Ps Mrs Dash’s -no sodium spices may change your life but thats a whole other blog ;) ) Now lets exchange the sour cream for greek yogurt. Finally, kill those hard taco shells and replace then with a romain lettuce wrap. Then load that puppy up with all the veggies, beans and avocado you like!

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