Over the years, I have baked a turkey in a paper bag, removed and roasted the breast which was sliced and served with a wild rice and porcini mushroom side dish, maple glazed a turkey, and even double stuffed a turkey, had to make the sausage stuffing for that one. However, the best turkeyby far is brined. Brining helps the turkey stay moist. And it is so much simpler than the double stuffed, twenty times simpler! This year, I used a recipe from epicurious.com, a really great resource. I cheated a bit on the sage gravy, there were simply too many steps to accomplish when tired. For the gravy, I used some of the pan drippings, the sage broth and some extra chicken broth added to a white roux made with 4 T of butter and 1/2 cup of flour.
This year’s menu
Table setting at Mise en scène
Apple Cider Brined Turkey with Sage Gravy
Sweet Potatoes with Maple and Orange
Cranberries with Ruby Port
Herbed Stuffing with Mushrooms
Green Beans with Almonds
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Côtes du Rhône
Hmm, can’t find the html for Foodie Friday and it looks like I posted to the wrong date! Fail! Oh well, I am going to blame it on Flu-tober, the month I had the flu not once, but twice!
Mrs. John Sloan 
No worries about the Foodie Friday link as it doesn’t seem to be there. We are all just posting on to last weeks for lack of another idea.
I have brined a chicken and it turned out amazing so I think I may try it with my Christmas turkey. I know what you mean about being too tired to get fussy by the time you are making the gravy.
We do it even easier by shaking up the flour with some broth then pouring it into the pan drippings. Stir it up and it cooks out the flour taste while thickening the gravy. Then stir in more broth to finish the gravy. My whole family does it that way. Easy peasy.
I have gone ferrel when it comes to gravy and turkey. We now roast a capon and fill the cavity with oranges, lemons, aromatic herbs and place the bird breast down on a bed of onions, carrots, mushroons, herbs and chicken broth. About 3/4 through roasting take bird out pour off juice, put back in over breast side up. Skim off fat (there’s time to put in freezer to help do this) and pour into pan that has simmered the giblets (minus liver) with carrots, onions, celery, mushroom, parsley, stock and bit of vermouth. Pour both broths together in a windsor pan and reduce by at least half. Use as jus not gravy. Sounds complicated but is not. No lumps, no extra flour going on, just concentrated flavor.