Yesterday (Sunday) was our Thanksgiving. We weren't able to have our feast on the official day since I was working Thursday (and Friday and Saturday).
Our preps began last week, when we began the lengthy process of defrosting the bird that's been living in the freezer for the last two years.
The key to a stress-free Thanksgiving, of course, is to do as much in advance as possible. Having surveyed the family about their meal preferences, on Friday night I made some blueberry pies.
Once cooled, I covered the pies and put them in our "outdoor refrigerator" (the top of the chest freezer).
On Saturday, I made two types of stuffing. My personal indulgence is wild rice stuffing, and since no one else likes it, I can add all the onions I want and no one can complain.
Don and Older Daughter prefer bread stuffing, so I made some bread ahead, then sliced it.
Since it was just the three of us for dinner, I only made one pan of bread stuffing, but was a bit flummoxed on how to divide it. That's because Don likes onions in his bread stuffing, and Older Daughter does not. What I finally did was use a bit of foil to divide the pan. I was insufferably proud of myself for this solution.
Oddly, it's times like this I desperately miss Younger Daughter, who used to snitch the uncooked bread stuffing as I would make it, since she loves the flavor. (She's coming home to visit in January, by the way.)
Older Daughter made pan rolls. Ready to bake...
...and hot out of the oven and brushed with butter:
Here's our "outdoor refrigerator" put to use.
We skipped church on Sunday morning because we foolishly believed the apocalyptic weather
report that promised dire amounts of snow and wind and hazardous road
conditions. Pffft, we could have gone.
The turkey was enormous, 20 lbs., so I got it in the oven early.
Ironically, as I was washing and drying the bird, I looked out the kitchen window and saw a flock of wild turkeys strolling by, in blissful ignorance to what was going on to one of their own behind these walls.
While the bird cooked, I whipped some cream for the pies...
...and Older Daughter made her fabulous green beans in oyster sauce.
The turkey came out golden and beautiful. We put it on the wood cookstove to "rest" while we got everything else ready.
Mr. Darcy, needless to say, was conspicuously underfoot all afternoon. Guess who got the (cooked) giblets for his treat?
Meanwhile the weather finally rolled in. We had sideways-blowing snow for a while, but nothing like the dire predictions the forecast promised. (We're actually getting far more snow today.)
Older Daughter set the table, folding the napkins in a fancy way.
At last the feast was ready: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, wild rice stuffing, green beans, and rolls.
We're grateful beyond belief for all the blessings God has given us.
