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skirt.

Every year without fail we hadthe same tradition in our household: We bought a bottle of Early Times and used it for the turkey (first to brine, then to aide in the basting process), the sweet potatoes, and the pecan pie (pecan pie with bourbon in the filling and honey-roasted pecans on top is to die for). The year immediately prior to our move to Pennsylvania, however, my husband did the holiday shopping instead of me and he bought a HUGE bottle of Early Times from Costco. That Thanksgiving we hosted a bunch of our friends who weren't visiting family and the evening got a whole lot more interesting after our meal when he brought the rest of the bottle out...and we finished it. Tryptophan + bourbon = lots of fun, and lots of passed out friends in our living room.

First Thanksgiving hosting the in-laws after moving from California to Pennsylvania. After hearing "that's not how we do it," or "this is how we've always done it," finally I got to host, cook, and do things my way. The result? My mother in law told me she'd never had a tastier or moister turkey--which I'd cooked following a bourbon brining recipe I'd originally found via Martha Stewart online and then tweaked to fit my own needs. And me finally being able to cook w/o having to justify "my way."