A Tale of Two Turkeys

I think I've already established that I'm not the sharpest stick in the stack but here's an example. . . . We decided to host Thanksgiving a few days ago, and I didn't get a turkey until Tuesday afternoon. It was nearly 20 pounds. And it was frozen. I didn't even think about the thawing process. Yesterday evening I read on the bag the "quick thaw" method, which is to immerse the bird in cold water, changing it frequently. We figured we could get started at 8:00 at night and it would be ready in the morning (if you count ignoring the bird in water for the eight hours between 11:00 and 7:00 am). Well, at about 9:30 at night, I started checking different websites for turkey cooking hints. Again and again I read, "Don't leave the turkey in water; it's a breeding ground for bacteria"--(at which point I always wonder, "well, doesn't the 180 degree temperature we cook the turkey to kill all the bacteria?!) But finally I felt like I would be putting my family and guests in mortal peril if I used the bird. So I turned to my intrepid husband and asked if he could run to the grocery store and find a "fresh" turkey. It was past 10:00 at night, but he did.

So this morning I tried to follow a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. It included directions for making a brine for the turkey, but as I checked on brining, I saw that if the turkey is prebasted you're not supposed to brine it. So I followed the instructions for the most part, cooking the turkey breast side down. I'm sorry to say that it ended up a very ugly bird. It tasted okay, and we have lots of leftovers.
The other turkey is in the freezer. I'll make it sometime in the future.