SPICED ROAST TURKEY recipe:

I like turkey on Thanksgiving … some people prefer ham: I like a crisp, baked turkey 😊

Bob and I did 2 or 3 family Thanksgivings with our parents and siblings, the early years of our early marriage – eventually, we decided to forgo the hours’ long drives, and stay home with our kids … and occasionally a friend who had no family to celebrate with.

I always tried to make a different turkey recipe every year.

This year, entering into my 3^rd Thanksgiving holiday without Bob physically with me, I thumbed through my extensive cookbook collection; and settled on this spicy baked turkey recipe, I think you will enjoy too 😉

There is just me, so I chose to bake a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey (1) a whole turkey isn’t necessary for one person (2) a whole turkey was getting too heavy to lift to and from the oven – the past 5 years (even with Bob’s help); so, it is definitely too darned heavy now that Bob rides the clouds (3) A sliced and diced turkey breast will go forward into several months meals with only one person enjoying it.

One of the changes I have made to my Thanksgiving cooking, is in choosing to bake my turkey the day before Thanksgiving because that works best for me: the rest (making deviled eggs, stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, slicing the pumpkin pie, ect.), I can do tomorrow. I baked bread the other day, for an anticipated sandwich – or two 😊

The kitchen smells wonderful!

I can’t wait to sample this cooked recipe 😉

==Spiced Roast Turkey

If you want to bake a whole turkey, just double the ingredients.

1 Turkey breast * Salt to taste * freshly ground Black Pepper to taste * 1 Tablespoons softened Butter (or margarine) * ½ teaspoon Vegetable Oil * 1 large clove Garlic, minced * 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard * ½ teaspoon Paprika * ½ teaspoon dried Thyme leaves * 1 teaspoon dried Rosemary

**NOTE: FOLLOW YOUR BIRD PACKAGING DIRECTIONS FOR OVEN TEMP & BAKING TIME; that way, you will be sure to get accurate and satisfactory results.

Heat oven.

Rinse turkey; clean cavities – pat dry.

Baked Spicy Turkey ingredients.

Blend together the salt, pepper, butter, garlic, and thyme leaves: with sanitized hands, stuff each turkey breast side with this mixture slipped under the breast skin. I pin the skin edges down with toothpicks to keep the buttery goodness next to the breast meat.

Butter mixture pushed under breast skin, and skin pinned down with toothpicks.

Blend together the oil, mustard, paprika, and rosemary: rub all over the outside beast skin.

Foil covering because roaster lid not high enough.

Place turkey on a rack, in your roasting pan.

Roast turkey as directed on your turkey packaging. Insert meat thermometer in the thickest part of your chosen turkey (inside of thigh on a whole bird, away from bone … middle of breast for a turkey breast); bake until thermometer registers 180-degrees.

Into the oven with a hope & a prayer ...

Remove from oven, and cover turkey with aluminum foil; let stand for 25 to 30 minutes before carving.

Perfecto!

ENJOY!

Spicy turkey, sweet potato, stuffing with red onion & peas, pumpkin pie - 773 calories. YUMMY!