Pre Thanksgiving Dinner

Ever since November started, I’ve been thinking a lot about Thanksgiving. The food, the desserts, the turkey! Glen had an interesting idea… lets cook our own turkey and other Thanksgiving food… this weekend! We got a small turkey, about 12 pounds and pretty much winged it. After thawing the bird for about a day, we were able to cook it in the oven today. It came out well!

Things I learned about a turkey:

• A turkey needs a LOT of time to thaw.  A LOT.
• It’s best to marinate the bird in water and spices for the best flavor – not that our bird wasn’t good, it was, but it could have been better.
• Make sure the gizzard is out of the bird, as we had found it after carving the turkey, in a plastic bag.  It was deep in the turkey’s butt?   We thought they take that out before packaging the turkey!

Of course, we had to make stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

As dessert, I made candied yams!  This is a really easy dessert to make.  Seriously.

I used 1 big can 40 oz. of Bruce’s Yams, 4 teaspoons (1/2 stick) of butter, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and crushed ginger and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.  I mixed it up in the Kitchenaid mixer and then added it to a rectangular pan.  I topped it with marshmallows and placed it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.  Done!

And this was my plate of delicious Thanksgiving-esque food.  I couldn’t even finish the bit of turkey I had!  At least we have leftovers!  …for days.

At least we get to enjoy Thanksgiving again in a few weeks, and I won’t have to do a thing!  Maybe I’ll bake something and bring it to the Thanksgiving dinner we will be going to!