Thanksgiving

I bought the 21 pound turkey on Monday at Safeway for just $6. I used mom's old club card to get that great price. Actually, I think the card is in Anna's name. I put the frozen turkey in the fridge on Monday and by Wednesday night it seemed pretty thawed. But Thursday morning when we pulled out the turkey we found that the breast was thawed, but the back was still frozen. So the turkey had to spend an hour in the sink before we could get it in to cook.

Nathan is the turkey man. He cleaned out that bird for a good half hour. Sydney tried to get him to put an egg inside the turkey, then call Hannah over to see it. He he he. We put the turkey in at 8:40 and Nathan set his alarm to remind him to baste the turkey every half hour.

Hannah was my kitchen helper. She rolled out the pie shells and mixed the ingredients. She wiped counters and did dishes while Emily, Sydney, and John made playdough pies. Sydney worked hard to color and cut out name cards for everyone, then she set the table.

Hannah is fish-sitting for our neighbors who live 2 doors down. We got permission from them to use their oven, so we walked down there at about noon and put the pumpkin pies in to bake. We ran back and forth about 6 times to check on them and put the apple pie in. I think the pies are better fresh, but it seemed silly to run back and forth, and I'm sure I looked a little crazy. I think there would have been time to throw the pies in to bake just after the rolls, because we didn't actually eat the pies until about 5:30pm, but that would have been stressful.

The turkey was beautifully browned and ready to come out at about a quarter to two. Nathan pulled it out, and he continued to baste it as it sat on the counter. He saved 2 quarts of drippings for me and I made a really good gravy. This may be the 1st time that I didn't have to chuck out my first gravy attempt and use a packet. Here's how I did it: I let the drippings settle, then I sucked off some of the fat from the top. I mixed the fat with 1/3 cup of flour, then wisked in more drippings - maybe 4 cups. The gravy turned out creamy and yummy, and it looked good to. But I have no gravy boat. I tried to buy a gravy boat this week, but I didn't find one. Oh well, the gravy did fine in a mug.

Just as the turkey came out, our friends the Bolivers arrived. They brought mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (seriously the best sweet potatoes ever - she baked the yams, scooped out the insides, and put 'em in a casserole, and topped it with brown sugar and pecans, baked it again - and wow - excellent even without the marshmallows) jello, green bean casserole, and 2 chocolate pies. YUM! Luckily none of the kids mentioned that I hate green beans.

The rolls came out just as the turkey was carved and the dinner was ready. Great food and good friends. Perfect.

Happy Thanksgiving!