Buy a Fresh Turkey. I prefer using fresh turkey and whenever I can find them, I buy organic hormone free. If you can't get a fresh turkey, be sure that you Brine...
A good brine is the difference between a bird you serve and a bird you are proud of. Dissolve about a cup of kosher salt and a half-cup of sugar per gallon of water, add whatever aromatics please you - bay leaf, peppercorn, citrus, a few sprigs of rosemary - and let the turkey rest in it overnight, submerged and cold.
Pat it dry before roasting; dry skin is crisp skin. Start in a hot oven to set the color, then lower the heat and cook to temperature rather than to the clock - about 165 degrees at the thickest part of the thigh.
And when it comes out, let it rest a full twenty to thirty minutes before you carve. The juices need time to settle back into the meat. Do those few things well and the rest of the table takes care of itself - everything else, after all, is just side dishes.
Originally published in View AZ Highlife Magazine, Dec 2007 / Jan 2008.