A Turkey Dinner

I made a full turkey dinner once before - and that time was more or less a comedy of errors. It was also twenty years ago. I had just married Abby's dad the July before and he was working nights in a hotel so we could not go to my aunt's house (a three-hour drive) for Thanksgiving. And while he was asleep that Thanksgiving day, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to make him a full-on dinner. I sucked as a cook back then. The meal itself was fine once it was done, but there were a lot of tears, burned knuckles, a trip to the neighbor with a bowlful of raw turkey innards, asking what which of these was the liver and how on earth do I make gravy out of these... things (poor neighbor was also just barely pregnant at the time and she told me later this made her seriously sick), and the crowning achievement of a full (plastic, thankfully) flour canister falling into an unbaked pumpkin pie and splattering pumpkin all over the kitchen, the cook, and even the ceiling. It was at this juncture that my then-husband woke up for the night, laughed, and gently steered me into the shower while he took care of the final details like lighting candles.

I've improved as a cook. And now I also know my limits.

The gravy is from a packet. The stuffing is from a box, the rolls are from the bakery, and the pie is from one of the Friday Night Gamers. But I'm roasting the turkey from scratch, (with help from the good folks at Butterball), I'm steaming some veggies, making a fresh green salad, mashing red potatoes from scratch, roasting apples and onions along with the turkey, and putting the whole shebang together. It smells good at least. Not sure how it'll turn out yet.

We shall see.