This is part of our 100 Things in 2015 challenge. Here’s the full list.

Originally we had planned on throwing a full-blown dinner party, with a goose as the centerpiece, but then we decided to sell our house and move. So it came to pass that we roasted a whole goose for the four of us and Alan, who was in town from Wisconsin on business.

We were pretty nervous about screwing it up. This was a $75 bird, and there was no going back if it got burnt to a crisp. We even postponed our plans when the recipe we wanted to follow didn’t mention a temperature. We finally found the right technique, bought some chestnuts for stuffing, and tossed the whole mess into the oven. (This was the night before they came and took all our furniture away. We literally couldn’t put it off any longer.)

It was pretty good! Goose is a lot like turkey, except that the whole bird is made of dark meat. The breasts aren’t as meaty, though, so carving is somewhat of a different experience. The skin got brilliantly crispy, though, and since it’s such a fatty bird, we still have some of the cooking fat tucked away for special dishes.