This was my first year cooking thanksgiving dinner. My parents came in from Arizona and my Girlfriend had to work. Plus I had wanted to do this for several years.

The main dish, the bird, was made using the Alton Brown "Good Eats" method. It involves brining the turkey the night before. To prepare, I made a test turkey a few weeks before the big day. It was a small 10 pound turkey and the experiment proved that it was the way to go. The boys ate it like it was going out of style.

The next new thing was gravy. I had always wanted to make homemade gravy. Most recipes call for using the internal organs, but I find that to be gross. Considering that things like the liver are waste creation factories. I did however find a good one using the neck bone. Normally I would use the Alton Brown recipe but it seemed a bit complicated for the first try as it requires two recipes. I thought I had the "Gravy Confidential" episode on my Tivo, but looks like it mislabeled it. None the less, the results were delicious. Another hit.

I had wanted to make some mashed cauliflower but went with traditional mashed potatoes instead. Mashed cauliflower tastes almost like mashed potatoes but without the carbs and more fiber.

Nothing else real fancy besides that. We had stuffing, pumpkin pie, the normal stuff.