Thanksgiving Preparations

Our 20-pound turkey has been thawing in the fridge since Sunday. All the ingredients for corn pudding, dressing, and mashed potatoes are in the cupboard. There are fifteen bags of frozen cranberries in my freezer, which should be enough since a batch of my famous homemade Cranberry-Orange Relish only takes two! And I bought a small pumpkin pie, because there's no way I can make one any better, or as economically.  Oh, and Cool Whip, which makes everything taste better!

Then, today, my friend Jack told me about marinating his turkey in Captain Morgan Spiced Rum and Dr. Pepper. It sounded so lip-smacking good that I shopped a little more for those two items, and a turkey baster. The bar is stocked with a veriety of wines (sparkling and regular), spirits and mixers. With all this and a can of Pillsbury crescent rolls on hand, I think you could say I'm ready to cook Thanksgiving dinner for not only three people, but a small Army if one happened to drop in! 

I used to always forget something, until I wised up and wrote a list of Thanksgiving menu essentials (which also happen to be our Christmas dinner essentials) in my Run-Back-Into-The-Burning-House-To-Save-This-Book book of handwritten recipes.

But, there is one thing better than cooking a huge, delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings: Eating a huge delicious Thanksgiving dinner in someone else's dining room! Our next-door-neighbors' out-of-town guests had to cancel, so they have invited us to join them and their two adorable daughters tomorrow to share their 20-pound turkey!

I'm still making my homemade cranberry relish and corn pudding as our contribution to the meal. And their kids love sparkling grape juice, so I promised to bring them a bottle of their "beer".

While I was looking forward to our private little family dinner, I am now eagerly anticipating a holiday celebration in a larger family atmosphere. Our friends will get to taste the corn pudding I've eaten every Thanksgiving and Christmas of my life, and I'm sure they will have special dishes or traditions of their own to share with us!

After the big day, I'll share the corn pudding and cranberry relish recipes (with pictures), so you can try them for Christmas (if not before- we eat both all year 'round!).

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!