Turkey is in the oven!

It's almost 2:30, and the turkey is in the oven! You might think I started a little late, but not really. My husband won't be home from work until 7 pm, so actually, it's right on time.

The first thing I did this morning, after I steeped myself a hot cup of tea, was to check the internet for information about how to roast a turkey. When the AOL news screen came up, there was a link to watch a video on how to prepare and roast the turkey, so I clicked on it. That gave me confidence.

This is probably the second Thanksgiving Turkey I have ever roasted, the first one being about 20 years ago when I thought family might come to my house for Turkey dinner for a change. However, despite that I had called everyone and invited them over for the day, there was a major no-show (driving too far for them, and again, breaking with tradition of having it at the in-laws). When I heard no one was coming, we packed everything into the car and drove to the in-laws because we didn't want to have Thanksgiving without them.

Yesterday, I had experienced the rush to get everything I would need to make the dinner my son and husband would appreciate most: turkey, not ham, and all the trimmings. At the Super Wal-Mart, my first surprise came when I looked for the turkey in the poultry section of the store. They were all huge, and frozen. I remembered Steve suggesting I could just buy the breast. As I considered the possibility, I checked the weight and the price. It was $12 something for the 6 pound breast. Hmm, a possibility. Then I continued the quest for a smaller, thawed out whole turkey. A genleman standing beside me studying the selection of frozen turkeys seemed as puzzled as I did. I looked at him and said, "Don't they have any thawed out turkeys here? I don't have time to thaw one out." He nodded and said that's what he was looking for. Apparently this was his first time looking for a turkey the day before Thanksgiving.

I checked out other displays in the poultry area, and sure enough, came across a section filled with thawed out Perdue turkeys of various sizes. Remember the $12 turkey breast? Well, for $5 more, I could have the whole turkey, so being the big saver that I am, I picked up that thawed out 15.3 pounds of turkey flesh and set it in my basket, satisfied with my decision. I would worry about what to do with the leftovers later.

The next big surprise came after I had rinsed and patted dry the turkey, when I tried to stuff the turkey with the Pepperidge Farm dressing I had made. It kept falling out all over the counter as I spooned it in. It was awkward holding up the turkey while I shoveled spoonfuls of the dressing into the two cavities. In the end, I found it easier to scoop up the bread stuffing with my clean hands and put it where it needed to go.

Finally, I set the oiled, stuffed, and seasoned turkey down into the heavy duty foil roasting pan (something I can throw away after dinner, and not have to clean up), and placed it in the pre-heated oven. I'll check it every hour to make sure it's roasting properly and in a timely fashion, but the tips I read on the Internet this morning suggested I not baste it often to prevent valuable heat from escaping the oven, which would cause an increase in roasting time.

I put some clothes in the washing machine. Steven is reading a book, and I'm going to sit down for awhile and read mine as well.

It's a nice quiet day, and I'm enjoying the time off from work, thankful to be able to say that I have time off from work to do this. I hope everyone has special time with their loved ones today.

So glad that Leo is recovering from his heart attack. Half my church must be related to him in some way... we've been praying for his health ever since we heard the news last week-end.

I don't know where my mother is again, but I do know she will be on her way to California on December 5th to check out a possible home to live in. She'll be closer to her sons, and away from the situation she has been involved in for almost a year that has us all concerned. I was hoping she could come up to be with my family, but she couldn't. I continue to pray that her needs of the day are taken care of and that soon she will be in a place of comfort and safety.