Normally we don’t do posts on Saturday, but US Thanksgiving is right around the corner and this is time sensitive.
Every Thanksgiving, we get a Cajun turkey from Popeyes. It is cooked and requires thawing and then warming up in the oven. The turkey is delicious and moist and saves us a lot of time on Thanksgiving, because we have an unreasonable amount of sides and usually at least one other meat, like ham or prime rib.
Last year, there was a lot of butthurt because I mentioned the secret Popeye turkey “too late,” and local Popeye locations were sold out, and since the turkey is frozen solid, there was not enough time to thaw it.
I am not sure how I got designated as the Popeye turkey peddler.
This is your Popeye turkey PSA: they have them, Kid 2 bought one yesterday. They always sell out online, but I just sent Kid 2 to the nearest location and she walked out with a huge $80 turkey.
Here is a video of a dude eating this turkey and although he claims it’s not the best turkey he ever had, he can’t stop eating it.
This has been your Popeye turkey announcement.
Also, if you are in Texas, and you can’t get the Popeye turkey, check with your local BBQ place. Most of them smoke turkeys for Thanksgiving. Here is Smokey Mo’s.
We will do the projected Thanksgiving menu post on Monday. ::cracks knuckles:: Gordon requested ham this year. I am thinking of smoking it on the BBQ grill.
Looks yummy.
Blessed thanksgiving to HA and the bdh!
LOL Bless you for your service.
Also I think that’s the highest I’ve ever been on one of your post’s comments. Not 1st but 2nd. Lol
Congratulations!
We smoke a turkey every year and it’s delicious. I won’t say it’s easy, because my husband does it while I make everything else, but it’s totally worth it. Actually I think Thanksgiving is at my house just for the Turkey.
The great Thanksgiving meal preparation started yesterday. Moved frozen turkey breasts to refrigerator. Have a great Thanksgiving 🌻
Now I wish I had a Popeye’s nearby.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Since it will be just me (and Kitties) for turkey day, I have acquired the ingredients for turkey and dressing casserole. (Kitties will extract their share as I cook.)
1/2 lb sliced turkey, cut into bite sized pieces
1 package cornbread dressing
1/2 c diced onion (frozen)
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Using slightly more water than called for, simmer turkey and bouillon cubes for 15 minutes or so. If the dressing mix has a separate spice packet, add it also.
Dump in bread mixture, and wait for 5 minutes or so.
If still too soupy, simmer a bit longer.
Serve with cranberry sauce or gravy. (Available in jars or packets. HEB has a store made tub.) Green beans optional.
Refrigerate left overs to use up the rest of the cranberry sauce.
Not gourmet dining, but I really do it as an excuse to eat cranberry sauce…
(My son and daughter-in-law will be back in town on Thursday and the fancy dinner will happen on Saturday, if things go as planned.)
Enjoy, my dears! Holidays are about family and happen when we want them to!
I knew I’d make at least one mistake.
Cook onions w/ turkey and broth.
Hold those horses until Thanksgiving recipe post. 🙂
Mmm. Smoked Ham. There are just two of us at home now. I want to get a prepacked meal from one of the stores, but hubby is concerned about too much leftovers. I get my car back from the shop Monday, so I can then shop by myself. I like leftovers. They make great lunches for work.
Happy Thanksgiving to the best Authors a BDH could ask for!
Hubs is smoking the turkey Wednesday so I just have to reheat the turkey and cook everything else.
Define “unreasonable amount of sides” 🤭
We’re just back from East Texas and our family’s Thanksgiving (8 adults and 3 8- year-olds). Our “unreasonable amount of sides” included (in no particular order) sweet potatoes with pecans and marshmallows, cornbread dressing, fresh corn off the cob (yummy!), broccoli and rice casserole, green bean casserole, fruit salad, various olives and pickles, pimento cheese stuffed celery sticks, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, cherry dump cake, chocolate chip cookies. All yummy, of course. And then a great Uno game! ☺️
I’m very thankful we are back on “thanksgiving week” meals instead of “thanksgiving day.” For the last 5 years, I’ve hosted Thanksgiving Day. And it has been a nightmare. But when you have people come, they expect their favorite dish and so I would spent the day before, the night, and day of, cooking. COOKING and COOKING. And then cleaning and cleaning. My relatives are much like storybook relatives in that they bring ISSUES and not FOOD. They bring extra guests and pets. They bring GROCERIES that they expect will turn into PERFECT FOOD.
This year, I uninvited family members. I cook for my elderly parents year round and Thanksgiving is no exception. So today we had chocolate pecan pie with whipped cream. Later in the week there will be pumpkin pie. There will be a day of turkey/stuffing/gravy/potatoes, but there will be a day for cornish hens for the parents, who prefer them to turkey. But it won’t all be Thursday. Because I am too old to do all that for one day of eating and six days of cleaning. This year the beef dish will be saved for Christmas.
Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for all the gifts you give us greedy readers through the year. May your week be a blessed and peaceful one.
Chocolate pecan pie with whipped cream. The stuff dreams are made of!!
I saw your post on Instagram and remembered I had to pick mine up today from the Popeyes on base near me. I sent the husband and he was able to by another for his combat groups Fightgiving Saturday after thanksgiving. They have been sold out at the other Popeyes around us for a while.
I will try it sometime. Popeyes is running commercials for them here, throughout the day. I decided to make my own turkey this year because I found an OUTSTANDING turkey soup recipe last year and I need the carcass for the broth. Not sure how a Popeyes turkey broth would taste. Hm.
Trust me on the soup. One of the ingredients is raw cashews. You grind them with a cooked potato to add creaminess without adding lactose.
I may try the Popeyes turkey in December. If they offer them.
Thanks for the recommendation.
The first time we tried smoking the turkey I was sold!! We brined it in a solution with oranges and other stuff that I can’t remember. But it was amazing, you actually *wanted to eat it. My dad came the next year and refused to take a chance so he had to make his own “traditional” turkey in the oven. At this point, I’ve befriended the local wild turkey flock so I may be off this particular bird forever now. But hey. What can you do? Cajun style from Popeyes sounds great!! I tried a Cajun rub one year when I was making turkey for new years and didn’t want it to be the same flavors we already had.
Have a great holiday everyone. Mine’s going to be a struggle so sending out good vibes to any in need in the BDH!
Best wishes to you Jenn! May your holiday go smoothly.
💗thank you
lol thank you. My hunny is going to spatchcock and smoke the turkey this year. I was “volunteered” to make chicken and dressing with my Mama. He loves it and it tickles him to death to watch me get bossed around by a tiny 86 y/o woman who doesn’t measure ANYTHING! LOL
I am doing my turkey hunt on Monday. As an american living abroad some years I have had more luck than others.
I found a recipe to do a turkey in the crock pot. That’s this years menu for me and hubs.
I’ve done turkey thighs or drumsticks in the crockpot many times for a low-key single or couple holiday meal (my family Christmas is in the week between Christmas and New Year’s). Throw some sweet potatoes in with them, and have greens or green beans on the side. All done but the dessert!
You were Chosen when the wishbones aligned and a voice with a Cajun accent proclaimed “Yay and verily y’all this one shall be my Boo. She shall proclaim the wonders of spice to all the world.”
LOL That’s Awesome 😆
thank you for making me smile with this!
I’m about to start making cranberry curd for tarts as my contribution to dinner. And maybe cranberry Ketchup from Nigella Lawson’s recipe, which I’ve gotten addicted to.
We ordered our smoked turkey from a local BBQ place here in Florida. But Popeye’s is awesome, I hope the BDH enjoys them!
Do you still have the smoker you got? I’m considering getting one, just can’t decide if I’ll use it enough.
I had zero idea that Popeyes did Thanksgiving turkeys. Amazing. I am smoking a turkey, which is a tradition started last year as I’ve only been smoking meats for a year or so. The family loved it and now it’s a must. I honestly wouldn’t mind buying one premade, and with the Popeyes option, maybe I’ll get my wish next year. 🙂
This year I’m doing chicken and seafood gumbo for Thanksgiving, because a feast is a feast.
I am easily influenced and ran to the nearest Popeyes and bought one this evening.
Actually, I’ve been getting the emails from Popeyes and have been ignoring them. But I showed your post to my mom and she seemed excited to try it out. She already has her mind set to getting sides from Lucille’s. I don’t think we will have a cohesive theme for Thanksgiving, but I don’t mind as long as all of the food is tasty.
I set up a potluck for work and am getting anxious that there won’t be enough food. I’m bringing chicken pot pies to that one.
Fascinating. My alleged memory only has vague recollections of the previous mentions of these. I’d have been tempted to order online if they weren’t sold out, so I’ve was able to avoid the temptation.
Have a great Thanksgiving, whatever gets served.
Hope you all have a good thanksgiving in house Andrews and the BDH who celebrate it
Have a blessed Thanksgiving; may it all be edible, tasteful, joyful, peaceful and then restful. Much affection to you all.
Thank you for the PSA. The video is the chef’s kiss. I laughed out loud at how he kept stuffing his face and his rating went up with every bite. It started ok but ended as “fire.”
I hope Popeyes is giving you promotional credits to be applied towards your future turkey purchases. No doubt your Thanksgiving PSA to the BDH increases their turkey business. 😉
Happy Thanksgiving! We’re getting a smoked turkey breast from Bates House of Turkey.
It’s kind of hit or miss with them. The first year we had it, it was absolutely wonderful. The second year, not so much.
Here’s hoping it’s a good year.
I meant to add, I’m on a walker post-surgical, and I have no plans to cook myself. I’m hoping my millennial daughter steps up and does the dressing and home made cranberry sauce. And greenbean casserole. If not, we’ll just sit around and eat turkey with our hands like animals.
Been there. The family came to me after my spinal surgery, and they did everything. It was great. Hope yours is wonderful!
I am having a great week: despite horrible rainy and cold weather, I finished my first 5k race in 10 years(and only my 2nd 5k ever) on Friday!
I think the fastest I did 3.1 miles on the treadmill at the gym recently was 53 minutes, so I was hoping that despite the weather I would at least finish in under an hour…and I finished in 51 minutes!!! It’s a start…now I will do a Resolution Run 5k on 1/1/25! 😁
My in-laws are hosting Thanksgiving and ordering in the whole Thanksgiving meal from a local restaurant they like.
I am making a spinach side dish that my MIL likes. I also found a recipe for a casserole that sounds amazing: gnocchi and goat cheese in pumpkin sauce with sage…so I will bring that as my vegetarian entree. And, since I am the baker in the family, I will also bake pies.
Here’s wishing everyone celebrating Thanksgiving this week some deep calming breaths and a boost in happy thoughts in the preparation in the next few days (and a great day full of blessings on Thursday!)
Congratulations on the 5k! That’s amazing! As a non-runner, I’m impressed with people who run when it isn’t from a bear.
Thank you! I’m still at the ‘walk fast, run, walk fast, run’ stage, but it’s a work in progress, and so much fun. Best of all is I feel amazing compared to when I was a couch potato! I’m hoping to be able to run an entire race by the spring, but we’ll see!😁
My youngest DD and her family get the Popeyes turkey, and it is indeed delicious. It was more available when they lived in California than it is now that they live in Oregon, but they still manage to snag one. Truly yummy stuff.
I hope your cooking all goes smoothly, and your day is benevolent and happy!
“I am not sure how I got designated as the Popeye turkey peddler.”
That phrase took me out laughing. XD
Also, it’s worth checking with local butchers as they can offer smoked turkey/hams too.
A family friend cooked a turkey on his grill years ago, and it was fabulous. A happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate, and a peaceful day to all of us everywhere!
My Thanksgiving is always non-traditional. Prime rib, I learned how to cook it so it is medium rare all the way through. My sons like turkey but the leftovers don’t all get eaten. With the prime rib the leftovers are always gone.
Same. That’s what I’m making for Thanksgiving (by request). Just got it purchased last night so I’m ready to go.
I have probably a strange question but I’m Canadian and we can be the same but different on a lot of things, thanksgiving being one (it was last month) and food being the other.
Is the turkey from Popeye’s smoked?
When my husband first started with this company (American) they sent us a Hickory Farm smoked turkey for Christmas that you reheat?
We thought it tasted like ham. I like Ham but not turkey ham?
I love oven roasted turkey. We have just gotten a new Popeye’s in town so is this an option for us or do I stick to my 2.5 hrs in a Look bag?
I haven’t had the Popeyes (but want to), but from experience with the Hickory Farms turkey vs. regular turkeys, I would say they are very different. The HF turkey is definitely more like a ham in taste to me as well, I think it has to do with the processing of it or maybe how they preserve it? The Popeyes seems like a real turkey that you heat up.
I hesitate to offer a suggestion on cooking your own vs. Popeyes, but if it was me, I’d give the Popeyes a try. Good luck!
Its not smoked, not sure if it is roasted or deep fried, but definitely one of those 2
Costco is also offering a smoked turkey, fully cooked and in the refrigerator section. We have one but have not tried it yet. This is our first thanksgiving/ birthday without my MIL so it’s low key.
I always get 2, one for Thanksgiving, and one for sometime in the year before next thanksgiving 😀
My husband says the Bojangles turkeys were better, but they don’t do them anymore so Popeye’s wins!
Hahaha, thanks for the PSA. I was skeptical when my sister bought the Popeye’s turkey for a previous Thanksgiving dinner she hosted, but I was happily surprised- it was delicious!
Okay, this is completely unrelated to your Thanksgiving turkey post — looks yummy, BTW — but I had to share!
These (African giant pouched) rats aren’t to the level of Cornelius’s animals, but they’re training them to fight crime! And they get to wear backpacks!!!
How Giant Rants in Tiny Vests are Sniffing Out Crime: https://youtu.be/PPL3JvB9XFg
My son brined a turkey last year and then smoked it, so he gets that task again this year. I get to make everything else, including 2 pies, so I’ll start prepping Wednesday afternoon once I get to our camp. That means I’ll get the cornbread dressing ready to cook, prep the green bean casserole (yeah, I finally tried on last year and fell in love), prep the sweet potato casserole, etc. Thanksgiving means cooking everything and also making the two pies (chocolate merangue and lemon). We are Southern and will have the full Southern spread. I’m sure the 4 dogs that will also be in attendance will love me since I’m known by them to drop things while cooking.
I am incredibly lucky!!!
One son brought a honeybaked ham.
Another son cooked our turkey in the turkey fryer.
And for our third meat I purchased some chopped barbecue.
Yes we had our Thanksgiving meal early this weekend.
That’s the way it is sometimes when not everyone can get together on Thanksgiving day due to other engagements.
Hello. So I have been re-listening to the Hidden Legacy series while I patiently wait for your next masterpiece. I picked up on a theme and I wanted to know if it was intentional? In Nevada’s story it feels like it was about being a Prime. Nevada, who believed her self to be a small fish and was actually happy with her simple life, was actually a super power. She is a Prime and can compete with the powerful and come out on top. She did this by breaking a hex with zero training in book one, she won a mental battle in with powerful mage in book two, and broke another hex that in book 3. All this with only few months of training.
For Catalina, who prefers to be in the background, she tends to be the obsession in one form or another in all three books. In book 1 and 2 the bad guy were obsessed with her, in book three it was Konstantin. It was her siren magic the bad guys, but I’m not sure about Konstantin.
Was this intentional? Also, I feel like Konstantin got away with being a jerk. He caused a lot of the trouble and he was a jerk to Alessandro. I understood why he couldn’t be killed, but why wasn’t he tortured a little bit?
I have gone through the Kate Daniel series and now I just finished Hidden Legacy. Next I will start Inn Keeper again. I love these books and the are good each time I read or listen to them. Thank you so much. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!!
Hi Sunshine,
We are so glad you’ve enjoyed the books. How you interpret them is entirely up to you and no interpretation is wrong, as every reader brings their own experience to their reading.
I can tell you what we intended.
Nevada’s story was about not settling. She got comfortable in a space that was too small for her, partially because she was brought up to not draw attention to herself and she developed some preconceived notions about how the world worked. Because of that, she stopped pushing herself. If Adam Pierce hadn’t burned that bank, twenty years form now Nevada would still be doing exactly what she was doing. She needed a burning meteor to knock her out of her orbit.
Catalina’s story was about discovering who she was and having courage to own it. Nevada has courage in spades, but Catalina was always scared of everything, especially other people. Scared of relationships, scared of conflicts, scared to be seen or noticed. Hers was the story of starting as a minnow and growing into a shark. 🙂
I love your Popeyes turkey reminder every year. Thank you!
My friends group legend was the time we decided to do Friendsgiving with an actual turkey for the first time (previously we’d picked up turkey legs or breasts). We put our best chef, who was also hosting, in charge of the turkey.
He, having never purchased a turkey before, did not know that they are sold frozen nor how long they would take to thaw. So at 10am on the day when dinner was scheduled for 5 pm, he went out and bought a turkey.
It ended up tasting great, even though he speed-thawed it and then cooked it in record time. We still didn’t get to eat it until after midnight.
As an atheist Australian, I don’t really get “Thanksgiving”. And nobody would ever suggest having an Australian “brush turkey” as the main dish (or any dish) on a special occasion; they’re tough, stringy and totally unappetising (Emu on the other hand… )
For me, (BDH, chime in if you want), Thanksgiving is about getting together with family and/or friends and giving thanks around a table full of food.
The traditional meal usually has turkey. However, you don’t have to have turkey. You can have ham or any other meats, or no meat if you’re vegan or vegetarian.
It’s mainly about being with friends and family. 😁
lol, this is the TL;DR version of mine below.
Gratitude doesn’t have to have any kind of religious component. Per multiple peer-reviewed studies, it’s good enough for your mental health that many professionals in the field recommend developing a practice of gratitude.* And members of our Native American population, in many cases, have a very different perspective on the history of Thanksgiving. They made the first one possible, and didn’t get much gratitude from the colonists afterwards (understatement alert!).
Our extended family goes around the table before dinner, and each member states something they’re thankful for. One of the religious ones typically brings God into it, but nobody else does. It’s basically an excuse to celebrate family and friends (they always get mentioned, whether present or not) and any good fortune we’ve experienced over the year. Turkey, corn, and squash are traditional (while venison would be historically correct as well, it’s hard to find at the grocery store) but we’re thankful for whatever may be on the table, including the distinctly modern vegan and gluten-free options. It’s not really about the turkey.
*Disclaimer here that toxic positivity can also be a thing. If you’ve had loads of trauma dumped on you, you might have to dig through that with your fingernails to find enough gratitude to shovel more of it away. And you might not be up to digging with your fingernails. It happens.
Thanksgiving takes its root in harvest festivals. I know that US dressed it up in Pilgrim clothes but at the core, it is your typical agrarian fall festival, where the hard work of growing and harvesting is done, and everyone gets to celebrate, because “Yay, we made enough food to last through the winter.”
Culturally it doesn’t have a religious component the way Christmas originally did.
I tried to order THE Popeye turkey cause of your blog post last year and it was sold out. I was not butt hurt but I am almost glad some people were cause this post made me laugh so hard. Turkey peddler 🤣😝. Chose to have
Thanksgiving is catered this year but looking forward to the HA Thanksgiving menu post.
The Thanksgiving menu post is a BDH tradition! 😁
That s hilarious! The white meat!! 😂😂
Too late for this year, but if you live where there’s a Buddy’s BBQ, they’ll smoke one for you. BYO Turkey. Usually $2 a pound.
We discovered New Braunsfels Smokehouse a couple of years ago when we toured (a part of) Texas. We have ordered smoked turkey and ham for thanksgiving from them ever since. It comes right to our door. A bit pricey but the food is wonderful and my whole family loves it. Their brisket and sausages are great too.
https://www.nbsmokehouse.com/
Since Thanksgiving has dwindled down to just me and my sister, it’s not worth the effort for me to cook a full thanksgiving spread. I now order the HEB Thanksgiving meal for four and it is really good. It comes with a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce and turkey gravy. I get a couple of half pies for dessert and we are good. It’s enough food that I have left overs to keep and my sister can take left overs home. The turkey breast takes and hour to cook and the sides forty-five minutes. Makes for a really stress free holiday.
Hubby was shocked to discover everyone is sold out of turkey. We use a local butcher, but still.
He asked if they had anything in the freezer, and the guy laughed and said “A leg of lamb, but nobody will eat that for Thanksgiving.”
We’re having slow roasted leg of lamb with root veggies and sour red cherries in honey over yogurt.
(We’re not able to travel this year, so we’re home for Thanksgiving.)
After reading the Post I couldn’t stop laughing that he says 8/10 and IA is right he demolished his plate 😂😂😂 very fun! Looks yummy and definitely way easier than messing with a raw turkey.
“designated as the Popeye turkey peddler”
oh my gosh – I am still giggling. (^o^)