Our Thanksgiving 11-27-08

We had a change of plans and have delayed our journey south. We are waiting for some information and it may change our direction so rather than travel and then have to turn back around in a matter of weeks we are in a holding pattern...the beauty of being flexible.

We had a simple, quiet Thanksgiving together this year. I was able to cook a turkey, our first since hitting the road...our oven in the 5th wheel isn't big enough.

Andrea spent the day with her husband Will's family and Michelle's family opted to stay home....it is a long way to come for just a couple of days.

I got the bird in the oven and then we headed out for our daily walk. I grew up with a Step-dad who loved cooking so there was always an abundance of food on our thanksgiving day feasts when I was a girl. BUT, I wasn't very fond of some of the food, oyster stuffing, or stuffing with fruit and nuts in it...sometimes I just wanted plain old herbed stuffing, which for me I can prepare with ease today thanks to Stove Top Stuffing! I love that stuff!

My parents would get up early to wrestle the huge turkey and get it all prepared and in the oven...all day was non-stop preparation and when it was all over my parents were pooped! I am an observer and by observing all that stress...though I know they enjoyed doing it...I opted out of being a slave to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners a long time ago!

I got up and cleaned and rinsed our bird, prepared the stuffing in the microwave, put the stuffing in the bird, slipped pats of butter under the skin of the breast and coated the bird with spray margarine, garlic powder and seasoned pepper. Covered it with foil and into the preheated oven for about 4 hours, took the foil off for the last 40 minutes, basted it a few times and ta-da....a scrumptious, moist, flavorful turkey. We had homemade garlic mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn along with the turkey and stuffing...with the tangy side of cranberry sauce....yum-yum! For dessert a small apple pie courtesy of Mrs. Smith, and a small pumpkin pie courtesy of Safeway bakery.

Larry is really good about stripping the bones after dinner so our turkey meat is ready for sandwiches and the carcass went into a pot of water for turkey soup. The stock smelled really good and today...the day after, I am cooking turkey soup with lots of turkey, onion, celery, and carrots! We will be on turkey overload for the next week! For two people a fourteen pound turkey is a lot, but it was 3 or 4 times cheaper than buying just a turkey breast.

Hope all of you had a lovely, relaxing day with your family and friends!