Smokin'

or...The ol' In and Out

Thanksgiving morning. I'm getting my turkey ready to put in the oven. I have a new pan to cook it in. That old disposable foil pan from previous years has moved on to the recycle center in the sky.
Damn, should have test driven this new pan before today. It doesn't fit in my oven.
Back-up plan. I will cook it in my outdoor smoker. The hard wood chips guaranteed to light without fluid and burns hotter than coals in minutes.
They wont light. I add fuel. They won't light. I add charcoal and fuel. Nothing still.
Plan three. I cram the turkey into a dinky pan just big enough for it's ass. It looks like the 50 foot woman in a 5 foot dress.
I re-heat the oven and the turkey is started once again.
Standing at the kitchen sink, washing the first mess of pans, I see the smoker...Smoking!
I check it and it seems ready cook after all.
Oven off, turkey put back into original pan and it's outside to the smoker.
Beer time.

Three and a half hours and eight beers later...
The turkey tastes awesome. Nice smoky flavour. And the Augratin potatoes that I cooked in the smoker next to it was excellent as well. My cat ate more than her share of turkey and is laying next to the wood stove now. I'm ready for my after dinner cocktails and once more, life on Planet Dandy is as it should be.
And that's a good thing!