Turkey with Apples & Butter: Thanksgiving Feast 2011

Each day up to Thanksgiving I will be sharing with you recipes for a Thanksgiving Feast! This is new this year and the crazy thing is that in order to prepare these posts for you, my family and I have already enjoyed all of these foods. I have prepared two full Thanksgiving dinners this month (... and Thanksgiving hasn't even arrived). I guess this will make up the fact that I will not be home for Thanksgiving this year (and since I LOVE turkey sandwiches I needed my fix anyhow). And yes, turkey with white bread, so delicious! I have had so much fun experimenting and creating this 2011 Thanksgiving Feast.

Thanksgiving Feast

Turkey with Apples & Butter

Olive Garden Bread Sticks; Copycat Recipe

Pepper Jack Macaroni & Cheese

Crash Hot Potatoes from Pioneer Woman

Grandma's Baked Corn Casserole

Cranberry & Sausage Stuffing

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce from Pioneer Woman

Grandma's Pumpkin Bars

Turkey with Apples & Butter

adapted from friend, Carol Lee

1 Turkey

4 sticks of Butter

2 to 4 tbsp Herb de Provence

6 to 10 apples, green usually (but any juicy apple will work)

Thaw out and clean Turkey (remove the junk, and I discard it). Cut apples into slices (use a core/apple slicer). You can use all pieces of the apple and no need to peel. Begin stuffing apple and butter (I like to put on some gloves at this point), alternating everywhere. First I stuff into the back end, then separate the skin on the top from the meat and stuff with apples and butter. Then take about a stick of butter cut up into pieces and the rest of the apple slices and stuff into the cavity. I make sure it's all the way stuffed. Take about 1 stick of butter with Herb de Provence spice and rub together and then rub all over the outside of the Turkey. The apples let out so much juice and it makes the turkey so juicy, I just love making it this way and have never tried any other way.

I bake the Turkey according to the directions on the package, with the thermometer as my number one checking point. Each Turkey has it's own directions and hours for cooking, this is why I just follow the package and usually I do not have any problems. This Turkey took exactly the 3-1/2 hours it was scheduled to cook for.