Turkey for Thanksgiving

The night before baking: 
Season the turkey and store in refrigerator until ready to bake.
Prepare the stuffing and store in bowl overnight.

Bake turkey at 325 degrees for about 6-8 hours or until internal temperature reaches 185 degrees. This is always the difficult part to get right so please make sure the stuffing is well cooked to prevent salmonella.

20 lb turkey – we got a fresh turkey from Farmer Mark at Emma Acres in Ann Arbor. It was the best ever.

Seasoning:
Whole head of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Mince garlic and set aside for 10 minutes. Mix together salt, pepper, olive oil and rosemary. Blend in garlic until smooth with mortal and pestle. Coat turkey with the blend. Refrigerate covered overnight.

Stuffing:
5 small stalks celery
2 large cloves garlic minced finely, set aside for 10 minutes
1 lb ground pork cooked
1 (14 oz) bag Pepperidge Farm Stuffing breadcrumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups (or less) water or broth
1 large onion
1 medium fuji apple
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup homemade cranberry sauce

Sauté pork and set aside. Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil 10 minutes. Add 3/4 cup water or broth, salt, chopped apple and celery. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Add cooked pork and breadcrumbs; mix well. Add 1 cup water and mix. Then add cranberry sauce and stir gently. Add more water as necessary until bread crumbs are mostly moist (juices of the turkey will make stuffing more moist in cooking). Refrigerate.