Happy Thanksgiving!
(Slightly expanded)
It's all relative! Try to tell me you're not having a better day than Tom.
Four days off - at least that's the plan - and I'm trying to enjoy them.

Everyone pitched in while I was still at work Wednesday, which made the night's prep a pleasure. I cleaned, seasoned and stuffed a 23 lb. bird, which is now in a double-pan rig (to protect against anything spilling into the oven), sealed in a bubble of aluminum foil and roasting slowly. I was surprised at how much stuffing I could fit in that bird. Between the tendency of that to swell and the general effect of the slow-roasting I'm expecting it to swell up like a meaty version of Jiffy Pop.

A large potful of potatoes has already been cooked, mashed, & blended with butter, some salt and a little pepper, then put away. I prefer to get most of the meal prep out of the way the day before, so I can concentrate on the smaller touches on Thanksgiving day. With the help I had this year that was done more easily than most years. Vegetables have even already been cut up and carefully sealed in a freezer bag so they're ready for the turkey noodle soup we'll be making from the leftovers sometime Friday.

Following Mark Gibson's cue I've added a calendar to my blog, over on the right. It'll take some time, but I'll load it up with (mostly trivial) info as I go. The start was bland, but as it started to roll I began to have more fun with it. Not much, but some.

One thing ran into another, and heading for 5am I find I've been up all night. It occurred to me to look out the window a few minutes ago and, yes, as we were told to expect, we've gotten the first - however modest - snowfall of the season. A pleasant touch.

I'd better get some sleep or I'm going to be a bigger menace on the roads this afternoon than usual.

Thanks to CryptLeak for the Thanksgiving-themed pics.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice to know whom to blame for that gruesome turkey pic! LOL!

Didn't get much prep done myself yesterday. Did get my cranberry relish done, but will off to the kitchen to start and apple pie here as soon as I'm done checking in with all the "regulars". H has agreed to help in the kitchen, which should make it fairly fun. Since it's just the two of us, we opted for about a 12 lb. bird. Should still be plenty o' leftovers, though.

Hope you and yours enjoy a wonderful holiday, Mike!
Anonymous said…
Happy Thanksgiving to all at Chez Mike. Hope your Jiffy Pop (now with tryptophan!) is a resounding success.
Mike Norton said…
Tammy: He's always digging up fun images, which enables my laziness nicely.

It's going well here today. We're about to head off to the in-laws for several hours. So far, so good.
Mike Norton said…
CL: And back at you! Good luck with your day's travels.

If the turkey works I should be properly anesthetized!
Anonymous said…
Today's meal went much better than expected, though we did spend almost 3 hours on the road.

Sometime I'm gonna defrost the 16-pound turkey we got for free from our local grocery. Then I'll brine it and invite you over to help us eat it. Then I'll make a ton of soup from the leftovers and the carcass (best if I simmer it for at least 6 hours).

Nummers.

Hope you had a good day and got some sleep before hitting the road.
Mike Norton said…
Glad to hear it went well, A! Three hours on the road>? Oh, you sophisticated types and your performance art. "We're road kill, you philistines!"

While we're still in the think of it, once we've dispatched the turkey beast I suspect it'll be a while before any of us wants to cook and eat another one -- but I appreciate the sentiment!
Anonymous said…
If you were hoping to gross me out, Mike, this ain't the way. :-D

I spent umpteen weekends on assorted farms owned by assorted relatives on both sides of the family tree. So sights like this were not entirely unheard of. Although in the case of one grandparent and one uncle, the flocks subject to this treatment were no doubt headed for the local Kentucky Fried Chicken detachment due to their species at birth...not that I minded this in the least.

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