Good morning. It’s on like Donkey Kong now, I imagine, Thanksgiving 2018: turkeys browning, potatoes gurgling, cousin Julie weeping in the guest bedroom and your brother three exits away on the highway, though he needs to stop for smokes. Time to cut the brussels sprouts. Time to baste the bird. The kids want to start on a pie — have a pie for lunch, basically, before dinner starts at 4. Come now the questions: Where’re the napkins? Should I get a fire going? Should I open some wine? Will there be bacon with the brussels? The whole catastrophe!
Don’t let any of it get to you. Let all of today wash over you like warm water at a spa in Imaginaryland. Everything is going to be fine.
To ensure that this is the case, make sure to take time for yourself today. Do that right now, if only to strap on your headphones to listen to this amazing Led Zeppelin cover by the Mexican classical guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, to watch these pandas, to consider Rust Cohle’s theory of history in “True Detective,” way back when. This is, basically, an audio-visual CBD treatment. Give it a try.
Then get back to work. If I can answer what I know will be the No. 1 question I’ll receive today (and I can): Your turkey is done when its internal temperature has reached 165 degrees, at least if you’re following the guidelines of the United States Department of Agriculture. Check it with a digital thermometer in the deepest part of the breast, and the deepest part of the thigh, and pull the bird from the oven when the temperature rises to around 159 or 160 degrees. It will continue to rise while the turkey rests. (Here’s how to carve it.)
That’s it! That’s what you need to know. Though if you have more to ask, most everything you’ll ask about may be found answered in our exhaustive guide, “How to Plan and Cook Thanksgiving.” Just hit the F.A.Q. there and see.
Above all else, have fun today. Love one another. Be thankful. And save some leftovers for me. I’ll see you on Friday!
