First, I truly hope you had a good Thanksgiving Day if you celebrated yesterday. And for those of you…like me…who are having their dinner today or over the weekend…hang in there, kiddo. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.

I’ve been cooking since Monday. Every day…all day long…cooking and cleaning and planning. I’ve done this all my life…work on something till I drop. And when I drop, believe me, it isn’t pretty. Mr. FixIt has a long held tradition with his kids and their mom and aunt and anyone else who joins them. They go to the City Park and walk the Turkey Trot along with about 4,000 other health conscious individuals. I always elect to stay home. For one thing, I’ve got way too much to do. For another…this is their thing…something they’ve always done. I want them to still have that one thing. I have things I do with my kids alone. It’s ok. And, it gives me a little space to check in with my physical, mental, and emotional heath to see how all this rushing is affecting me.

It took a long time for me to learn to listen to myself…to care, love, and nurture myself. In the past, I’d keep pushing till I crashed and burned…and beyond. Yesterday morning, I kissed my husband goodbye and gave him the obligatory warning to be careful. I mixed up one batch of dressing and put it in the garage refrigerator. Then I sat down and checked in. Immediately…the feelings I’d been pushing down all week came bubbling up and over. I let them flow. And, instead of negative self talk, I asked the little worker bee who is me…”What do you need to do right now, sweetheart?”

“Sleep, please.” My inner voice sounded tired and frazzled.

“Ok, darling…let’s go take care of YOU!

I climbed in the bed in the guest room. It’s dark in there when you draw the curtains. I snuggled down under the soft, fleecy blankets, and turned on the 432hz music I’ve been sleeping to. And drifted off to sleep. This was at around 10:30am. I woke up at 1:30 in the afternoon. My body needed that and I didn’t feel at all guilty about it. I got up and got back to work in the kitchen.

Mr. FixIt called on his way home from town and asked if I’d thought of anything I needed from the store. I thought about it for a moment and said, “You know what? If they have ready made pies, why don’t you pick up a couple? That will be one less thing for me to worry about making.” I know I’m known for my homemade baked treats, but I decided to work smarter…not harder. I doubt our guests will care one way or the other.

After getting both pans of dressing baked, I loaded them up in the two slow cooker crocks and put them back in the garage refrigerator. I’ll take them out this morning and let them come to room temperature and turn the cookers on. I got the turkey cleaned and rubbed down. Kaleb on Wyse Guide said to run your hands under the skin to separate it from the meat and put your dry rub in there as well as the cavity and then on top of the skin. Then you set the whole thing in the fridge on a rack in a shallow sheet pan, uncovered, so the skin can air dry. That helps it get really crispy and golden brown in the oven.

I placed the giblets and the neck in a saucepan, added about half a box of chicken broth, three sticks of celery and a carrot cut in chunks and a minced shallot. I threw in a few stems of fresh thyme and a generous couple of shakes of poultry seasoning, covered it, and set it on the back burner of the stove to simmer for an hour or so. I strained off the broth and set it in the fridge for tomorrow’s gravy. Then I nibbled on the neck bone. Not a lot of meat there, but what’s there is sweet and tender. 

I realized when I got everything tucked in the fridge…I hadn’t taken the time to eat more than toast all day. I cut up an avocado and put it on top of some cottage cheese and called it a day. I’ll start back at it this morning and we’ll be sitting down to eat around 3:30 this afternoon. It’s amazing the amount of work that goes into a spread like this. The new recipes added some time to the prep this year, but if we like the new dishes, they can easily be incorporated next year. You know, once you make something, it’s usually easier the second time.

I saved a video from Martha Stewart making the BEST New York Cheesecake. It’s time to make that again…but certainly NOT today! Christmas is a month away!!!

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“For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.”

Hebrews 6:7 ESV

#Thanksgiving, #Blessings, #Food, #FarmLife