[footfootfoot]

O'coug,

I'm checking out your menu and it looks pretty good from a non crocker P.O.V. As someone who really loves to cook, I don't quite see any problem with the box/instant program. Stovetop stuffing is pretty damn tasty, eps. if you are as baked as the turkey, but that is a different thread. Ahem...

But if you want to quickly and safely thaw a frozen turkey, get a Jubba sized pot or a clean ish 5 gallon pail and fill it with hot (about 120ºf) water. Unwrap the turkey and plunge it in the water. When the water gets cold, dump it and add more hot water. keep doing this until the turkey is pliable.

Salmonella is killed with proper cooking so don't listen to the fear mongers out there telling you blah blah blah. Ask them if they wash their hands before they cook.

Actually, check that, you don't want to know.

Anyway, the bird is done. don't stuff it, it makes the cooking time too long. Baste if you really feel the need to, but I'd skip it. every time you open the oven, you need to tack on five minutes cooking time for the oven to get back up to temp.

Use a meat thermometer, stick it in the breast (not all the way through into the cavity) and when it says 180ºf, you're good to go.

They sound delicious, but I'll pass on the oreo balls. Girlish figure and all that, ya know. But for some one who claims to be far from betty crocker, they sound like a heck of a lot of work.

Rock on.