Every once in a while, I have a night where I sleep like a baby. I woke up suddenly at 6:30 yesterday morning to the incessant chirping of Mr. FixIt’s phone announcing an impending snow storm. I was sure I was awake for the day, but I fell back to sleep and woke up at noon! I rarely do that and it was delightful to wake up thoroughly rested. Still, not rested enough to want to do much of anything.

We need to do some cleaning for company coming on Friday. We’ll be observing the FixIt Family Thanksgiving that day and we love to have the house all pretty for them. I want the tree up, too. So, there’s lots to do. Some time in the afternoon, Mr. FixIt suggested we start cleaning and I begged him to take this one day off and enjoy the snow and each other’s company. That’s what we ended up doing and it was so peaceful.

We had a snow squall yesterday afternoon that made the ground white in thirty minutes. The temperature didn’t get over 33° all day. I was going to cook a pork roast yesterday, but I didn’t get up in time to put it in the slow cooker, so I’ll do it today. We can put on some music, clean the house, then put up the tree. I bought some new lights to replace the burned out ones on the pre-lit tree. It’s still perfectly fine to use and the new ones are so expensive.

There are certain areas of my life where I’ll scrimp. Making do, reusing, upcycling…I’m all about that. Eggs? I passed them up at the Pig when they wanted almost $7.00 for eighteen eggs. But the fresh turkey? I won’t pass up a fresh turkey. Frozen turkey can’t compare to the moist and flavorful meat of a fresh bird. 

I remember so many Thanksgivings of my childhood when Grandma baked the turkey in a brown paper grocery bag because she read it made it tender and juicy. I loved my Grandma, with the white hot heat of the sun, but she cooked meat to death. The turkey, while a beautiful golden brown, was dry as a bone. That’s how I learned to eat the dark meat. It was hard to make the dark meat too dry.

I have cooked approximately forty Thanksgiving dinners in my lifetime and I have always searched for the perfect turkey. It wasn’t until I discovered brining a fresh turkey till I found nirvana! I have the turkey and the brining bag. I still need to buy the brine mix and whole cranberries. I think I’d like to put chestnuts and oysters in the dressing this year so I’ll have to go to the store sometime early next week. 

Have any of you cooked your dressing in a slow cooker? Kaleb of Wyse Guide…a blog I follow…has a wonderful recipe that I want to try. He also has his grandma’s recipe for Butterhorns on there. They sound incredible! You can find his blog HERE.   https://www.wyseguide.com

I always get excited about cooking a big traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. I grew up in Appalachia, and subsequently lived twenty-seven years as a Jewish Mother. I’m all about feeding people. It’s my love language…to make sure you eat the best meal of your life at my table. Sometimes I miss the mark, but I’ve gotten pretty good after all these years. I especially love planning a unique dessert. You can NEVER have too many desserts!

Do you have big plans this year? Is there a new recipe you’re going to try? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food? Let’s share some recipes and get excited about this!!!

?

“I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”

Psalm 7:17 ESV