I wake up on Thanksgiving morning full with excitement as I rush down the stairs to see what my mom has been cooking so far. My mom is always up early preparing and getting the turkey ready for later. I ask my mom why I don't smell  our honey roasted turkey like I always can in the morning. She says, “I'm not making our turkey this year. I'm also not making any stuffing. We have a different plan in mind.”

Confused to what she means, and why we will not be having our traditional dinner, I ask her where my dad is. She replies with “He's on his way to get dinner for tonight.” I was now very confused because we are now officially breaking away from our usual tradition with our normal turkey in a deep fryer. My dad finally comes home about an hour later and I now smell something I have never smelled before. Onions, gravy, celery, turkey, and all of these wonderful scents fill the house and I am still wondering what it was that was just brought into my home. I go over to my dad and see a giant cardboard box as I ask him, “What’s in that box and what is that smell? It smells amazing.” He tells me “It's a new turkey that we are all trying this year and it is from my buddy who owns that barbecue place. There is a surprise inside of the turkey as well. You have to wait until dinner to see it.”

I thought about what it could be inside that turkey all day as I watched the packers beat up on the bears 24-7. Finally dinner is ready and the turkey smells amazing. My dad cuts into it to serve everybody pieces. I see the stuffing and I fill with excitement.

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Rinse turkey, remove giblets and place in a shallow roasting pan.
Prepare stuffing according to package directions. Mix in water.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and slowly cook and stir the celery and onion until tender.
Mix celery, onion, and toasted bread pieces into the stuffing, and season with salt and pepper. Loosely scoop stuffing into the turkey body cavity and neck cavity. Rub the exterior of the turkey with vegetable oil.
Loosely cover turkey with aluminum foil, and roast 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C) and the interior of the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F (70 degrees C). Remove foil during the last half hour of cooking to brown the bird.  

Citation: Albright, Adrienne, Easy beginner’s Turkey with Stuffing, 2005