Delicious Smoked Thanksgiving Turkey!

My wife won't allow me in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day! Even though the thought of the aroma emanating from the oven makes me giddy, I was banned long ago from preparing food for that day except what I could cook over the grill. The kitchen is her domain on that special day and she rules it with an iron spatula.

The barbeque smoker is my domain and this year, as always, I'll smoke a turkey the evening before the big day. I've done this enough years to know that if I put it on at midnight, it'll be ready the morning of Thanksgiving.

The first thing I'll do with the bird after I take it out of its plastic wrapping is to put it in a brine solution. Brining the bird flavors and seals in the juices, making extra seasoning unnecessary. Smaller turkeys are easier to smoke than large ones and they're more likely to fit in the brine bucket.

First I pour 2 ½ gallons of water into a clean plastic bucket. Then I add 1 ½ cups of kosher salt, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 shredded bay leaves, 3 tablespoons of fresh thyme, one tablespoon of minced garlic, and two tablespoons of restaurant grade black pepper. I'll mix all this up and then stuff the turkey into the bucket, completely submerged in the brine. The bucket will rest in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.

For smoking turkeys in the fall or winter, I prefer an electric smoker because it holds a constant temperature. After I rinse all the salt off the bird, I simply place it on the grill and close the lid. I usually place a can filled with hickory chips on the floor of the smoker and as they heat up, smoke fills the grill.

Depending on the size of the turkey and the heat of the burner in the grill, it will take from 3 to 5 hours to cook. To be sure it's done, check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read 165 to 170 degrees inside the thickest part of the turkey.

While I'm admiring the smoke that's casually drifting from the top of the smoker, I'll reflect that life is good and that this year I have a few more things for which to thank the good Lord for than I usually do.

I definitely want to give thanks for a successful major surgery of my daughter's cancer. Even though the chemotherapy and radiation is taking a terrible toll on her physically, the doctor's assure us that when it's all finished, she'll be cancer free.

I'm also grateful that God has given her a terrific sense of humor and a positive attitude about the whole thing. Even though she no doubt gets that trait from her old man, I'm not sure I could handle a similar situation with the faith and class that she's exhibited.

I'm especially thankful that in spite of my doctor's best efforts to kill me with various assortments of blood pressure pills; he has finally concocted a potion that's keeping my blood pressure at a constant level for the first time in years. For the last couple of months the pressure has gone from 200/100 down to 80/40 at midday, then back up to 180/100 at bed time. I don't need roller coaster rides like that!

I thank Him each night for our service men and women who put their lives on the line each day in different parts of the world, so that I have the freedom to roast a turkey on the grill any time I like, without having to worry about someone firing rockets at my smoker, mistakenly thinking it's a threat to someone.

I thank God for my family, kids and grandkids all; each one with their own individual hopes and dreams, successes and failures.

There are more blessings than any of us have time to recall or even appreciate. We'll have our annual Thanksgiving feast, with the table sagging with turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green peas and other delicious foods, leaving enough scraps that would feed many families for a week. We indeed have a lot to be thankful for. Have a blessed Thanksgiving!