Thanksgiving 2006: My First Deep Fried Turkey

I lived in California, working at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, from July of 2005 to December of 2006. That means I spent Thanksgiving of 2006 in California; I accepted an invitation to dinner at house rented by several friends in InterVarsity. It was only a short walk from my apartment.

The culinary highlight of the meal was, as the title suggests, a deep-fried turkey. Here we see the turkey being stuffed and prepared for frying by Clint, one of the residents of the house, which is known as "519."
The deep-fryer was located in the back yard to minimize the risk of setting the house on fire.
Once the oil was boiling and the turkey done, our minds naturally drifted to other food items that might be improved by boiling oil. The most obvious item was french-fried potatoes, shown being lifted out of the oil above. The fries were good but quickly became soggy. We also tried deep-fried stuffed mushrooms, which we excellent, and cauliflower, which was also surprisingly good.
This is the turkey, in its golden-brown deep-fried succulence. It turned out very well. The meat was moist, tender, and tasty. It was also no more greasy than a roasted or baked turkey. My thanks to those who cooked and opened their house to me.

Here are some of the other guests at the party. From left to right on the couches are Kevin & Hannah (from New Zealand) and Clint. I thank Hannah for provided some of the photographs in this entry. On the coffee table is a risk board, but I do not recall actually playing the game. For most of the day after the meal, we simply sat and talked, enjoying a very restful Thanksgiving.

"And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you." - Deuteronomy 8:10 (ESV)