Thanksgiving Menu and how to make a great turkey.

I get asked a lot if I am doing the cooking for Thanksgiving. The answer is YES! I almost always stay home and spend the day cooking. I make enough food to feed an army and usually don't need to cook for a day or two after, but we have a tradition of always making taquito's the day after thanksgiving with the leftover turkey. I fill mine with beans instead of turkey, but you get the idea. I thought I had already posted the taquito recipe on here, but can't find it. So I will post it the day after thanksgiving.
I have been asked a lot for help with recipes for Thanksgiving. In an effort to help you all decide what to cook, I am posting our menu early. We are having normal gluten food as well as gluten free food, to accomodate everyone at the table. Here is what is being served from me at our table. If it is highlighted, I included the recipe. Remember with all my recipes if you don't want to be gluten-free just use regular all purpose flour in place of the flour I list:

Thanksgiving Cocktail

Mulled Wine

Classic Cheese and Cracker Appetizer ( I use dill havarti, Irish Dublinger White Cheddar, Gorganzola)

Penguin and Snowman Appetizers

Deviled Eggs

Gluten-free stuffed mushrooms
Gluten-Free Stuffing

Turkey (recipe shown below all pictures)

Green Bean Casserole

Lemon Garlic Green Beans (randy doesn't like the casserole)

Mashed Potatoes (Garlic Parmesan)

Pão de Queijo (Cheese Buns) Gluten-Free

rotoli di aglio (garlic rolls)

Traditional Sweet Potatoes

Gluten-Free Gravy

Gingerbread

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Crisp
Vanilla ice cream

Affogato

Homemade Whipped Cream

I will try to remember to add more pictures later, after I serve everything on the actual thanksgiving holiday.

Turkey:
For those of you that need help or want to know how I make my turkey. Here is a quick rundown. No pictures yet, because I am not making that prior to thanksgiving.

What you need:
1 completely thawed turkey
1 stick of butter
olive oil
italian seasoning
1 tsp each salt and pepper
1 reynolds turkey oven bag

Making a turkey is so easy. I do not know why people don't do it all the time. It is a simple affordable meal for those meat lovers out there (which does not include me). My turkey ends up juicy and tender every single year. My secret? I have 3.
1: Cook the turkey breast side down. This allows all the juices to flow back through the breast.
2: After cleaning out the insides of the turkey, place one solid stick of butter inside it and close the legs back up.
3: Cook it in a Reynolds oven bag. This allows for constant basting. Be sure to cut a little hole in the top of the oven bag before cooking so that it doesn't pop in the oven.

Process:
Clean out the insides of the turkey. Wash and pat it dry. Stick the butter in the belly of the turkey and close back up the legs. Rub the turkey down with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Sprinkle and rub italian seasoning all over the outside of the bird. Sprinkle and rub on Salt and Pepper. Put bird breast side down in a reynolds oven bag. Put 1 TB Gluten Free Flour in the bag to help absorb the gravy juices. Put the bag with the bird (breast side down) in a broiler pan. Cut a slit in the bag at the very top so it can breath and close it with the little plastic bag closer that they give you. Cook according to the size and weight chart the reynold's oven bag gives you. Usually it takes about 3 hours to cook.

I promise it will be the best turkey you have ever had. Moist fall off the bone meat. Just like my hubby likes it.

We eat early. 1pm on Thanksgiving. Then we play games the rest of the day and eat throughout the evening.

Happy Thanksgiving!!