Day 36

Day 35

Day 34

Yes, here is our turkey! It turned out wonderfully, if I do say so my self. Told you this was the only way I've ever really enjoyed eating turkey!

Seriously, *pats self on back* I out did myself today. This morning I woke up and baked a pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and crescent rolls. I made the pie crusts on Monday, so they were waiting and ready in the fridge. But all my baked items turned out great! I was so happy- nothing flopped! The pumpkin and pecan pie recipes are definitely keepers- easy and yummy.

Then I put the turkey in to roast. Within an hour of it being in the oven, delicious, herby smells were taking over the house and I was so hungry. And that was a good 5 hours before we actually ate!

And did I mention I outdid myself? Yeah, besides the turkey, pies, and crescent rolls, I cooked and mashed potatoes, cooked sweet potatoes and green beans, made gravy from the the turkey juices, and made stuffing. All from scratch. Yeah. I did good today. Trust me, this is not a normal cooking/baking day for me. But that's fine. I'm happy that for once, everything turned out splendidly tasty and nothing really flopped. Yay, yay, yaaaaaaay!

And this is what that proud beautiful turkey was reduced to it. Carnage. A mere carcass. And lots of leftovers. Yippee!

Oh yeah, I was going to share that turkey rub recipe, wasn't I? Well here it is:

Cajun Turkey Rub

1/2 tsp. salt per pound

2 tbsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. sage

2 tsp. curry powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. dried parsley

2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/4 tsp. allspice

3-4 crumbled bay leaves

Combine spices. Rub bird well with oil. Make pockets in bird with a sharp knife and fill with ingredients. Cover whole bird with mix. Refrigerate 24 hours before roasting. Roast according to time and temperature directions on packaging. Or else google how long and hot hot you should roast a turkey that weighs that much. Oh, and roast it breast side down. This is a trick I learned from my Grandma and it really does work to keep the breast nice and moist.

See? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. And did I mention how yummy?

Day 33

Yep, these are the stars of the show tonight. These are the various spices used in my favorite turkey rub recipe.

I thought I would try something a little different for today and tomorrow. Yes, we already had one turkey dinner that I had nothing to do with said production. But since I love (love) Thanksgiving leftovers, I'm making our own Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow evening. We may have some other friends over, we may not. Regardless, we'll have some glorious leftovers. I purchased a 15.36 lb. turkey today and it is now resting in the fridge, having been massaged with Cajun Turkey Rub. So these are the spices, plus salt and pepper, that are used in the rub. Tomorrow I'll do a picture of the roasted turkey. We'll see how it turns out- this is the very first turkey I've ever roasted all by myself.

But back to the point- the recipe. You see, I have to confess, I am not a fan of turkey. Never have been. At least, not unless it's been roasted with this rub. A turkey done following this recipe is the only turkey I have ever liked. Period. I know, how very unAmerican of me to admit to disliking turkey. Side note: The turkey, had Ben Franklin had his way, would have become our national bird. Not sure why it lost out to the bald eagle, but it did. Can you imagine how different our Thanksgiving dinners would be today if it had been the other way around? We probably wouldn't be eating turkey, that's for sure. Who knows- we may have been eating bald eagle.

So yeah, this is pretty much the best turkey ever. I'll post the recipe and some tips handed down to me by my Grandma tomorrow when I post the photo of the end result.

Anyone else out there who is not particularly fond of turkey? Is there any way of preparing it that makes it palatable to you? If there isn't, definitely bookmark this recipe for next year!

Day 32

Mmmmm! Stuffing, my absolute favorite part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal, particularly when doused in gravy and sided by mashed potatoes. Yummmmy! I didn't get enough of it yesterday, so I am going to have to make my own one of these days. Preferably at the same time I roast my discount turkey that I hope to get today. And then we shall have that most wonderful blessing- Thanksgiving leftovers!

Hubby, Baby G, and I had a splendid Thanksgiving celebration at the home of friends about an hour and a half's drive from our house. Lots of laughter, sarcasm, good food, and fun games. Such a good reminder that we have so much to be grateful for! Thank-you Father!

So, a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you my loyal readers! Hope it was a wonderful day for you as well!

Day 31

In case you couldn't figure it out, that's my laundry drying in one of those wonderfully huge laundromat dryers. I'm not too fond of having to pack up our dirty clothes and haul them out to the truck every time I want to wash them, but those lovely big dryers that you can put 447 loads of wet laundry in at once make it almost worth it.

Almost.

Day 30

Yes, I know this picture sucks. Believe me, I know! Yesterday was just one of those days. You know what I mean? Well even if you do and even is it was, there really is no excuse for this. I'm sorry. I just could not summon the creative mojo come up with anything to shoot. So I sat around, stewing for ideas, and ended up just subjecting my dinner to a hasty photo shoot. A photo shoot which did not yield very good results because I was tired and my mind was elsewhere. Again, I'm sorry. I'll do penance today by shooting anything and everything that moves. Well, maybe not quite, but I promise to do better anyways.

By the way, even though my creativity in the photography realm was not up to parr yesterday, my cooking was. Actually, no, this was just an insanely easy recipe that turned out oh so good. You can find it here, on PW's Tasty Kitchen site. Lots and lots of yummy recipes there- many of them with amazing food pictures to accompany them. Head on over there is you can't figure out what to make for supper. Or lunch. Or breakfast. Hey, if I can't give you a great photo, at least I can help you out with some great food ideas! Right?