gobble gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

It may already be obvious, but Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite holiday. I think I've prepped the best this year, finally understanding that I need to cook all week, and not just on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm a lot less frazzled, for sure. What's also helped is finally letting other people bring things. I was telling Sarah how hard that was, because culturally --you don't invite friends to dinner and ask them to bring things. It's pretty unthinkable, even if I intellectually understand how normal that is. In any case, I'm really looking forward to trying Kathleen's mashed potatoes and green beans, because she's a pretty spectacular cook.

Just about everything's clean. I need to put away laundry (if there's time, or I can just shove it into the closet). I have to take out the trash. But that's it for cleaning.

The table is set, there's a log ready to burn in the fireplace. The camera has relatively new batteries. I'm going to have my iPod out with some music. Possibly Abba. Because what doesn't say Thanksgiving like Abba?



The oven's heating up now, and I'm going to go do the final prepping for the turkey, which will hopefully not take a year to cook. Then all that's left is making the mini quiches, chopping veggies for the crudite, and plating the yogurt dip. The rolls will go in at the last minute, brushed with butter, to brown.

No matter what I'm doing around 11, I'm going to stop, shower, and put something decent on, because in years past I've practically had to greet guests with frazzled hair, in my pajamas. Let's not do that again, k?

If everything gets done early enough, and I have all the ingredients, I may sneak in another appetizer: the gougeres!

ahhh!

God. The bird is so enormous that it fills pretty much the entire oven. I really should take out the bottom-most rack, but then I won't be able to bake the quiches. Kathleen's casserole is going to have to go in after we take the bird out to rest!

Also, note to self: buy some real goddamn potholders!

Hrm. Maybe I should just do it, because I don't want the bird burning on top!

Also, there clearly wasn't enough stuffing. Ran to store to buy extra onions and must assemble another batch because that's one thing I don't want to be short on! (I mean, there's plenty for all of us for dinner, but... leftovers!)

turkey day: the final hours

Um. It's all done. Well, sorta. The turkey and stuffing need to finish cooking, but um. I don't think there's anything left for me to do. *bemused*

Everything's clean. And I'm clean. And now I have 45 minutes to be neurotic about if things are going to taste good. That's probably the most insane-making facet of a meal like this. You can't taste stuff out in advance. And since I'm trying a new recipe for turkey, and since it's simply the most enormous bird I've ever cooked, I'm quite terralyzed™.

I still haven't figured out what to wear. I tossed out the idea of a skirt, because there's no way I'm wearing hose and there'd be the all-too inevitable reality that I'd end up flashing someone before the day was over. And let's not have that. I've got my dark grey polar fleece pants on, but have no idea what to wear on top. I think Sarah would fall over laughing because it's just friends coming over, not the Pope. But it would be nice to look nice! A long-sleeved black top it is. Done.

Everything's plated. Um. What else to do? I may try to muscle the turkey back onto one rack up. I'm worried everything on the bottom of the pan will scorch.

On a totally non-Thanksgiving topic: All my body moisture has left me. Lips cracked, skin dry and whitish. I need to dip my entire self into a vat of lotion and just sit there for three days. Poor skin, how I abuse thee.

*bounce* *bounce* *bounce*

last post, really. no, really!

Um. The turkey is done. It apparently cooked faster than the allotted 20min per pound. Now what the hell do I do? We're supposed to eat at 3!

I can't believe it cooked that fast. It's over EIGHTEEN POUNDS!!!

> 1000 words