Free turkey

Even though we celebrated Thanksgiving with our traditional red beans and rice we managed to have turkey leftovers. When shopping near the turkey holidays it is very easy to earn a free turkey or two. So yesterday we roasted our bird. I am a convert of the roast inside of a paperbag school, but the free bird didn't come with a paperbag and our local market doesn't stock paperbags. Sid initially promised a grocery store run but he didn't end up going until after the bird was already done. So I had to make do. Had I planned the event carefully in advance I would also have sliced up granny smith apples to roast under the turkey. You don't eat them but they make the gravy really good. Anyhow we did the follow the basic directions on the plastic wrap and it came out very tender and juicy. Since I wouldn't be home to baste (we went swimming at the least convenient time during the cooking) or to cover the browning skin with foil I oiled on a layer of cheese cloth in the beginning (thank you Jan Duster, circa 1984) and the skin came out perfectly browned.

Now lets hope that the turkey soup attempt improves enough to be edible.....