Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate food, family and to give thanks but I love thanksgiving because it is the perfect excuse to go overboard on fall vegetables. In my family we are not really big on turkeys, and because both my parent’s think they are odd looking we have never raised them. I have been trying to tell them how handsome they are but this is falling on deaf ears.

Here are some of my tips for the perfectly roasted bird. I like to put an orange or lemon in the middle of the bird and cook it without stuffing. I put LOTS of black pepper, salt, fresh sage and parsley. I love to use Alton Brown’s method but I do not brine it. The secret is a hot oven for a short time and then you lower the temperature and bake it until it is perfectly roasted and tender. In only 2 and a half hours you have the moistest turkey out there, which really lessons the stress level for the chef.