Roasting a turkey:

Preheat your oven to 450.

Season you turkey generously, especially the cavity. I suggest a seasoning mix of poultry seasoning, garlic salt, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper and paprika. Cut  small onion in half along with an orange and fill cavity, just before roasting.

Slide butter under the skin of the turkey, especially around the breasts for a buttery moist taste. Roast upside down in your roasting pan for 30 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees, turn turkey right side up and tent for another hour with loosely fitting aluminum foil. Remove foil to let the skin get brown and slightly crispy.

Baste every 20-30 minutes to keep the turkey juicy.

Make sure you use a meat thermometer and pull the turkey out when approx.. 162 degrees. The ultimate temperature is 165 degrees and while the turkey rests for 30 minutes the temperature will rise to the proper 165 degrees.

Plan on 1- 1 ½ pounds per person or even 2 pounds if you want plenty of leftovers.

If you are using a frozen turkey plan on 24 hours thawing for every five pounds of turkey

For a crispy skin, rub your turkey with your  seasoning mix two days prior and let sit in refrigerator uncovered. This is called a dry bring. Make sure you season the cavity liberally.

Gravy:

For silky homemade gravy, pour off most of the drippings, leaving no more than one cup for the gravy in the roasting pan.  Heat turkey stock and slowly add to drippings . Simmer in the roasting pan on your stove. When the liquid begins to slightly show it is near boiling in one corner, begin to whisk in Wondra Flour, which is much more refine in the hottest corner of the pan. Slowly continue to whisk towards the center of the pan until the mixture starts to thicken. Add about 1 TBSP. gravy master for a nice deep, rich flavor and whisk in about ½ cup ½ and ½ for silky texture.

You can make a roux, equal parts of melted butter and flour, but Wondra Flour keeps the gravy from lumping.

Add more poultry seasoning for full flavor.

IF the gravy becomes too thick, just whisk in more hot stock.

Heat your side dishes while the turkey is resting if you only have one oven. Placing sides on the oven rack  below the turkey will lower the temperature.

A simple holiday side dish:

Roast  peeled butternut squash with fresh thyme and kosher salt and pepper. Mash in a bowl or use a hand mixer to make the squash smooth. Add butter and 1 cup eggnog. Mix well. Spread in greased casserole dish and top with your favorite streusel  recipe. Dot with butter and bake at 350 for approx.. 30 minutes or until topping begins to brown.

For the best mashed potatoes, always boil starting in cold water with a very generous amount of kosher salt. (The salt absorbs into the potatoes. Drain when tender, add back to pot and whisk in truffle butter, more kosher salt if needed, sour cream, fresh minced chives and light cream. (You can cover with plastic wrap and reheat in microwave within a ½ hour.)