On the Table

This was just my third or fourth year of putting on my own Thanksgiving dinner. Every time I cook this meal, I am filled with appreciation for my Mom who has been doing it for my entire life, without complaint. This year, now that I know what a job it is, I lined up family help. But even with all the help it was still an all-day event with me as the primary kitchen maestro.

11:00 AM: Baked a pan of cornbread. A couple of weeks ago I found a recipe for oyster stuffing that I want to try. Dan's mom always made oyster stuffing and it was my favorite part of her meal. Fortunately the recipe calls for Jiffy Cornbread, so it's not too bad to make. Plus it makes the kitchen smell really nice. Not to worry kids, I'm still making the regular kind. In cleaning out my recipe drawer, I find my hand-written notes about how to make the real stuffing, the kind my Mom makes.

Noon--got the turkey out. Rinsed it, patted it dry, removed the giblets and neck. Said yuck about a hundred times. Would normally throw the giblets and neck out but have been convinced by Mom, older sister, and daughter Kathleen to cook them for the gravy. Put them in water with some celery and onion. Put some seasoning on turkey and put in the roaster.

Make the stuffings. A few more yucks with the oysters. It looks like I've bought the biggest oysters in the ocean. Lose all desire for oyster stuffing but carry on and finish the project. I cook up double onions and celery to use for both stuffings. That stuffing is going to be cooked in a glass dish. I also make Mom's stuffing using Pepperage Farm cornbread stuffing mix. I mix up the crumbs, cooked veggies, sausage, eggs, chicken broth, etc. I find some fresh sage in the fridge and add that to both along with dry. I think the stuffings both look awesome.

1:00: Stuff turkey and put in the oven. It's in a roasting bag, so it's only supposed to take 3 1/2 hours.

Start the sweet potato casserole. Cook sweet potatoes in the microwave. I also start the homemade rolls at this time. Had previously talked to the family about what is essential to the meal. Sweet potato casserole and homemade rolls. It took me almost twenty years to learn how to make the rolls. No kidding. But once I "got it" I have been a roll-making genius. The kids also like them to be clover-leaf. My grandmother made the clover leaf rolls and we use her recipe. I like the rolls that are single balls all stuck in a pan together. But at this point, I'm just mixing up the dough. Have to interrupt the sweet potatoes to melt butter and warm milk for the dough. I use my huge yellow Pyrex mixing bowl. I think making rolls is the only time I pull that baby out. Make the dough and cover it with plastic. That's it for about an hour and a half.

Stacey is making a special non-dairy pumpkin pie. I am baking a frozen pumpkin pie. Hers goes in the bottom oven first. Turkey is in top oven. Frozen pie goes in when hers comes out. I don't like pumpkin pie but at this point, I know that I have way more to cook for dinner and don't even think about making anything else.

2:30 PM: Time to form the rolls. Melt some more butter. I make twelve cloverleaf and a big pan of singles. I cover both pans with plastic and they are good to go for another hour and a half. People, a.k.a. Danny, Kathleen, and Dan (also known as the clean-up crew) are enquiring when dinner will be served. I estimate at 4:30. I ask whether they would mind if I didn't do mashed potatoes. They would mind.

I have Stacey trim the green beans while I start peeling potatoes. I put the potatoes on the stove and let them do their thing.

Time to cook the sweet potato casserole and oyster stuffing.

4:00: Lots of stuff happening. Turkey looks good and is browning. Got to get it out soon so I can get at it's drippings.

4:30: Turkey out. Drippings in pan. Stuff cooking. Rolls have risen fast and need to go in an oven. Potatoes are boiling. Oh yeah, giblets are done and cooled. Those need to be pulverized in the food processor. Pour drippings into a container thing that is supposed to separate the grease out. Put back the degreased drippings into the pan. Add pulverized giblets. Add some milk and flour that's all been shook up in a jar. Add a little chicken bullion. Stir in the roaster that covers two burners. I'm impressed it looks like real gravy--a first for me.

Put the green beans on and rolls in the oven. Time to take the potatoes off, drain, and put back on burner. Let dry a little bit, then add milk, butter, and salt. Mash with the masher. I'm not a fan of mixer mashed potatoes. I like them mashed!

Over-cook the cloverleaf rolls a little but the singles are fine. Kathleen sets the table. We decide to use the colored Fiesta, clear crackle Blenko, and the fun cloth napkins. I light the candles. We are using the dining room which I had cleared and cleaned before all the cooking began. As always I get the chartreuse plate, my favorite. It all looks pretty. While Stacey and I finish up food, Kathleen empties dishwasher and washes dishes in the sink. We lock the cats up. Since kitchen is in different room than the dining room, we want to be sure there is no unauthorized turkey snatching. We line the food up on the counter. We always do it buffet style.

Dan had gone outside to do a little yardwork. He comes in making funny faces and asking for the bug-bite lotion. We look at him and see he has several HUGE red swellings on his face. That's MY dinner date. His face looks normal by the end of the evening.

We eat sometime between 5 and 5:30. The food is good and everyone seems happy. We have enough leftovers to feed us for a few more days.