Pop Joe's Foolproof, Paper Bag Turkey: Recipe for a Great Thanksgiving Turkey

The neighborhood grandpa on my street is Pop Joe. He walks around the neighborhood every day and has a friendly word for everyone who speaks to him. Last October, Pop Joe told me that he was looking forward to having his extended family over for his special Thanksgiving Day dinner. I commented that I was capable of preparing all the trimmings, but I still had a hard time with cooking a turkey. Pop Joe at once invited me to bring my turkey over on Thanksgiving Day for some one-on-one roasting lessons.

Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning, I placed my bird and roasting pan in my son's old wagon (lined with an old clean sheet, of course) and rolled down the street to Pop Joe's kitchen. Joe met me at the door with a smile and a large brown grocery bag (Safeway, but he said any store's bag would work). Joe dropped my turkey into his sparkling clean sink and unwrapped it. The neck and giblets went into a saucepan with some water and were set to simmer. The turkey was thoroughly washed inside and out.

Next Pop Joe took about a quarter stick of butter and rubbed it all over the turkey and inside the cavity. Then he poured some salt, pepper and poultry seasoning into his buttery palm and rubbed down the bird again.

Then I found out what the bag was for. Joe took a bottle of vegetable oil and poured a generous amount into his hand and began to rub it all over the inside and outside of the bag. When the paper grocery bag was thoroughly coated with oil he set it inside the roasting pan on its side.

Joe had already prepared his favorite stuffing, but said any kind of stuffing would work, even "that stuff that comes in a box" if you really want. He did suggest chopping up about half of the simmering giblets to add to the stuffing which we did. Joe supervised as I loosely stuffed the large and small cavities on the turkey, then he sewed the flaps closed. If you don't have a large needle and buttonhole thread, you can use the closures available at the supermarket. The stuffed turkey was then placed into the greased bag breast side up. Once the bird was all the way in, Pop Joe folded over the edge and stapled the bag closed.