After the success of The Picnic (http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/161782/the-picnic), at September's meeting of our stroke survivors group (our stroke group with Texas Health Rehab Hospital) my wife and I offered to do the same for The Party, our annual Christmas Cup Party where we all bring dishes to pass and do a Chinese Christmas with decorated coffee cups, where you get to vote on the best decorated, then are given numbers and when called, you can choose a cup or steal one already chosen from another, 3rd time it is frozen. Good food, good fellowship, good fun. And at the start we recognize whoever has a birthday this month with a loud cheer, YAY BIRTHDAYS!!! After a stroke or strokes, it is very very important to have as many more as possible!!
So, the day before Thanksgiving, we got a great deal on turkeys, 3 - 20+ lb. turkeys at WinCo for 38¢/lb, total $24, just amazing! Took home, put in back fridge to thaw out, then the following weekend brought them out, unwrapped and pulled the gizzard packs and necks (ohhh wow... love those simmering on the stove!) and we wheeled them to the back fridge:(I need to state, giving credit where credit is due, my wife, my caregiver, Linda, did most the work that I could not from my strokes every step of the way - we are a team!):
The previous weekend I'd already done some smoked cheese (Longhorn Cheddar) with the FANTASTIC A-Maze-N pellet smoke unit:
The fantastic A-Maze-N Pellet-Smoking unit, AMNPS - www.amazenproducts.com
Huge bucket for the turkeys, just fits in the fridge:
with turkeys:
in the curing brine and weighted down:
for a soak in the spa! Then, removed after 10 days:
sacked up and hung in the smokehouse!
add a handful of chunks to the burner pan:
and let the magic begin at 240°!
I'd have to add more chunks every 30 - 45 minutes, and progress, at 10 am:
1 pm:
4 pm:
9pm - done!
Turned off the gas and let hang and cool until 10:30 pm, brought out and unsacked, put back into the buckets:
Then into the fridge for a nap for 2 days.
Then, brought out and cut up into parts:
take off the wing and leg, split the leg into thigh and drum, then dissection the wing into wingette, drumette and tip: (PJ the wonderdog impatiently waiting for me to remove the wing tip for her benefit!0:
Then remove the half of the breast from that side:
and repeat 5 more times (a couple of the carcasses):
put everything back into the fridge to await the morning's prep: deboning the thighs, removing the skin, chunking up, then slicing all the breasts, doing a smoked cheese platter, laying out the drums, wingettes and drummettes, etc.):
At the Party:
The Cheese Platter:
People started digging in, had to wait in line just to get a quick photo! Here's the cups:
(guess I missed a whole row or two on the left side, lol! But, you get the idea!) Everybody enjoying the food and conversations! The club president and his wife, the (real!) president, lol!
Every table of folks:
my wife in front, with the silver hair!
me and another member goofing around each snapping photos of each other at the same time!
My wife's cup (later stolen by someone else, lol!)
It was a great time, everyone loved the smoked turkeys and smoked cheese, what was left we left for others to take home with them! Thank you for allowing me to share!
So, the day before Thanksgiving, we got a great deal on turkeys, 3 - 20+ lb. turkeys at WinCo for 38¢/lb, total $24, just amazing! Took home, put in back fridge to thaw out, then the following weekend brought them out, unwrapped and pulled the gizzard packs and necks (ohhh wow... love those simmering on the stove!) and we wheeled them to the back fridge:(I need to state, giving credit where credit is due, my wife, my caregiver, Linda, did most the work that I could not from my strokes every step of the way - we are a team!):
The previous weekend I'd already done some smoked cheese (Longhorn Cheddar) with the FANTASTIC A-Maze-N pellet smoke unit:
The fantastic A-Maze-N Pellet-Smoking unit, AMNPS - www.amazenproducts.com
Huge bucket for the turkeys, just fits in the fridge:
with turkeys:
in the curing brine and weighted down:
for a soak in the spa! Then, removed after 10 days:
sacked up and hung in the smokehouse!
add a handful of chunks to the burner pan:
and let the magic begin at 240°!
I'd have to add more chunks every 30 - 45 minutes, and progress, at 10 am:
1 pm:
4 pm:
9pm - done!
Turned off the gas and let hang and cool until 10:30 pm, brought out and unsacked, put back into the buckets:
Then into the fridge for a nap for 2 days.
Then, brought out and cut up into parts:
take off the wing and leg, split the leg into thigh and drum, then dissection the wing into wingette, drumette and tip: (PJ the wonderdog impatiently waiting for me to remove the wing tip for her benefit!0:
Then remove the half of the breast from that side:
and repeat 5 more times (a couple of the carcasses):
put everything back into the fridge to await the morning's prep: deboning the thighs, removing the skin, chunking up, then slicing all the breasts, doing a smoked cheese platter, laying out the drums, wingettes and drummettes, etc.):
At the Party:
The Cheese Platter:
People started digging in, had to wait in line just to get a quick photo! Here's the cups:
(guess I missed a whole row or two on the left side, lol! But, you get the idea!) Everybody enjoying the food and conversations! The club president and his wife, the (real!) president, lol!
Every table of folks:
my wife in front, with the silver hair!
me and another member goofing around each snapping photos of each other at the same time!
My wife's cup (later stolen by someone else, lol!)
It was a great time, everyone loved the smoked turkeys and smoked cheese, what was left we left for others to take home with them! Thank you for allowing me to share!
Last edited:
