Showstopper Turkey Elixir: Paint Your Way to a Norman Rockwell-Worthy Thanksgiving

👈 When it comes to magazine cover-worthy models, maybe she’s born with it—or maybe it’s Maybelline. (Or, more likely, it’s Photoshop.) When it comes to magazine cover-worthy Thanksgiving turkeys, maybe it’s this elixir—or maybe it’s dish soap. Wait. Hold up. Did we just say dish soap? It’s a common food stylist hack for commercial photoshoots—raw or ever-so-slightly cooked poultry is often brushed with a mix of Angostura bitters, caramel coloring, and soap to achieve an even, lustrous, and deep golden-brown color that conveys a perfectly roasted bird. In the interest of total edibleness, we wanted to achieve the same gorgeous Instagram-worthy results without soap—and while ensuring the meat is cooked through and not raw. So, we swapped that soap for liquid soy lecithin. Its darker color helps to build that golden-brown gorgeousness we’re after, and it’s sticky—this helps the elixir adhere more evenly to the turkey to prevent streaking (no racing stripes or tan lines here, friends