All Natural Young Brined Turkey

Thanksgiving continues to be our favorite holiday - largely because it so often involves tables of food, and friends and family celebrating together.And who doesn't love a seemingly endless supply of turkey-based leftovers? (Soup, anyone?)This year, our local Trader Joe's was fully stocked with plenty of turkeys, and we were happy to see some smaller sized options compared to last year (pro tip: red wrapper = smaller bird, orange wrapper = larger bird).Aside from the good value, there are a lot of things to like about TJ's Turkeys:2) They're free range and handled humanely! That's extremely important to us, and we avoid buying eggs or poultry that isn't.3) We like to brine our turkey for maximum flavor and juiciness, and these babies come pre-brined. It's such a convenience and time saver.The verdict? This year we tried a new cooking approach - we separated the dark and white meat before cooking (Julia Child's method). The initial prep was a bit extended, but it made for easier carving post-cooking. In the end, we had a juicy and flavorful turkey (though we still prefer the rotisserie approach from last year).To round out our "test" Thanksgiving, we paired our turkey with Trader Joe's Turkey Gravy (excellent!) and Trader Joe's Gluten Free Stuffing Mix (not excellent!), and even with a "smaller" bird (~14 pounds), we had plenty of leftovers. We're definitely looking forward to sandwiches, soups, salads, etc. for the next few weeks!1) They are all natural, and never fed animal by-products or treated with antibiotics or hormones.