The cooking and cleaning are done so now let the blogging begin!  Bob wanted to be in charge of the turkey this year so I happily let him.  He received this recipe in an email from Food Network, courtesy of Tyler Florence.  I’m not crazy about sage so I asked him to leave that out which he did and he didn’t do the cornbread stuffing but I’ll give you the whole recipe.  It was a really tasty and moist turkey that smelled divine while cooking.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large onions, finely chopped

1 loaf cornbread, cubed (about 6 cups)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 cups chicken stock

1 (12 – 14 pound) fresh turkey (Bob bought a 19 pound turkey for the 5 of us because he LOVES leftovers!)

1 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup hot water

8 strips smoked bacon

1/4 cup flour

1/2 lemon, juiced

1  Preheat oven to 350 and remove top rack.

2  Combine butter and sage in bowl, mash with fork or spoon until sage is well incorporated and butter has flecks of green in it; season with salt and pepper.

3  Melt 4 tablespoons of sage butter in saute pan, add onion, cook and stir for 15 minutes until soft and golden.  Remove from heat.  Put cornbread in large bowl and scrape sauteed onion mixture on top.  Add egg, heavy cream and just enough chicken stock to moisten stuffing without making it soggy (about 1/2 cup).  Toss well to combine, season with salt and pepper.

4  Remove neck and gizzards from inside turkey.  Rinse bird thoroughly inside and out with cold water, pat dry.  Sprinkle cavity and skin liberally with salt and pepper.  Using fingers, gently lift skin from breast and legs, and slip pieces of sage butter underneath; massaging it in as you go.  Fill bird with cornbread stuffing without packing too tightly; cook remaining stuffing separately in buttered baking dish.  Truss the turkey;