I cooked my first turkey!

Is it normal for a 24 year old to not know how to cook a turkey?
I didn't even know where to begin.

I asked for tips, looked on Pinterest, and googled it. Then I texted my dad a bunch while I was preparing the turkey. I had no idea so much went into it.

First I had to take the stuff out of the inside of the turkey. There was a bag of gravy and bag of giblets in mine. Then I had to wash the outside and inside of the turkey and put it on a roasting pan.

I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

Leave the turkey sitting out for half an hour and rub salt and pepper on the outside of the turkey.

The next step that I read about during my research was to put two cups of water or chicken broth in the bottom of the roasting pan and then put the turkey in the oven.

When you put the turkey in the oven, lower the heat to 350 degrees.

Baste the turkey every 45 minutes.

So, super simple, right? Except for the part where the turkey is heavy as he** and you have to lift that bad boy out of the oven every 45 minutes because the oven needs to stay shut (you're not supposed to let the heat out). Thennnn... lift it again to put it back in the oven.

The very last time you baste the turkey, baste it with melted butter instead of the liquid from the bottom of the pan.

That was about it!

Oh, and let the turkey sit for 30 minutes after it's finished cooking before you carve it.

I also seasoned my turkey with rosemary, thyme, and creole seasoning before I put it in the oven.

It was seriously so delicious. Nice and juicy, too! Chris said it was the best turkey he's ever had.

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Pull the packaging out of the inside of the turkey.
3. Rinse the turkey in water, inside and out.
4. Place turkey in roasting pan.
5. Rub salt and pepper on the turkey.
6. Season the turkey with whatever seasonings you like. (I used thyme, rosemary, and creole seasoning).
7. Put two cups of water in the bottom of the roasting pan.
8. Place roasting pan in the oven and turn the temperature down to 350 degrees.
9. Baste the turkey every 45 minutes.
10. Use butter to baste the turkey for the very last time. 

I had an 18 pound turkey and cooked it for about 4 and a half hours. 

Let me know how your turkeys turn out!!