Summertime Thanksgiving...

We bought a whole turkey at the end of December, and stuck it in the freezer - along with some leftover turkey gravy and cranberry chutney - with the intention of having a summertime Thanksgiving.

And that's EXACTLY what we did. The trusty old Weber charcoal grill was fired up this past Saturday night, and on went the nearly 11 lb. bird.

If you've never grilled a whole turkey on a Weber grill, then you're definitely missing out. It's a foolproof way to roast a turkey (I'll post the simple instructions in case anybody is interested), and it frees up the oven for making other things. In fact, we've only made turkey in an oven one time during the entire time we've been married; every other time has been on the grill. Plus, I think the turkey tastes best when it's prepared on a charcoal grill. I've had deep-fried turkey, and while the results are decent, I don't think it tastes as good as a barbecued turkey. I know people swear by deep-frying turkeys, but I think it's a hassle (and a bit dangerous) dealing with, and disposing of, all that oil.

So, we had the turkey, gravy, cranberry chutney. Some roasted potatoes, corn bread, and classic French bean salad were added into the mix, and VOILA!

Summertime Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed the turkey dinner with Andy, Di, and the kids, and then followed up with some banana splits. Everything was really great!

The next evening (you guessed it), Mrs. TBF and I had leftovers. As much as we tried, we just couldn't finish it all off. Leftover turkey went into the freezer, and today...

...I feel like I have a whole turkey in me belly!

A Turkey For Turkey!

Turkey lost to Germany last night in the Euro2008 semi-finals.

NO, I did not watch the game! Well, that's kind of a lie since I have to admit that I watched bits and pieces of it. Let me just say right now that if all soccer games had as many goals (and shots on goal) as last night's game, watching soccer might actually be tolerable...um...a couple of times per year. My solution? Eliminate offsides, and have a couple less players on each side.

Open up the field, DAMMIT! TOO MANY PLAYERS, AND NOT ENOUGH SCORING!!!!

Where was I? Oh yeah...

We were sitting on our balcony having a nice dinner when suddenly we heard the whole neighborhood cheering. Mrs. TBF said, "...oh, Germany must've scored," so I went inside to turn on the TV (notice how we hadn't been watching) to see if they, indeed, had. As it turned out, TURKEY had just scored the first goal.

Wait a second...

The Swiss were cheering for Turkey instead of Germany?

Why yes, they were!

For the remainder of the game, our neighborhood would erupt in cheers anytime Turkey scored or nearly scored. Whenever Germany scored?

Silence....

I find this to be a strange phenomenon. Imagine the U.S. playing any team in the World Cup. It would be kind of like Canadians rooting for the other team regardless of which country they were from.

Wait a second...

Canadians WOULD want the other team to beat America.

Huh! I guess it's not that strange of a phenomenon.

Well, anyway...

In the end, after giving it their all, Turkey just couldn't pull it off. The final score:

Germany 3

Turkey 2

So, in honor of Turkey's near upset victory, but more importantly, in celebration that Euro2008 is nearly over, we've pulled a whole turkey out of the freezer, and we'll be giving it the Weber grill seat of honor for a couple of hours this Saturday evening.

Thanks, Turkey...for giving us a good reason for grilling a turkey. Ahhhhh, there's nothing like a summertime Thanksgiving dinner.