Killing Norman one Turkey at a Time

I'm not a Holiday kind of guy. Most years I just want to get through to January with a little bit of sanity left. I'm not a scrooge per se, it's just that most people seem to stress out over the holidays and want to take me along for the ride. Thanksgiving is bad and Christmas is worst. Too many people try to have some Norman Rockwell fantasy and when that delusion falls apart, they take it out on the rest of us. The worst two in my family is my brother's wife and mine . You see me and my brother have had years of a dysfunctional family life to learn that family get togethers are not always pleasant or peaceful, and they are never that idealistic.

Having said that, this Thanksgiving is working out to be a great Holiday. My wife has to work Thanksgiving Day and the day after, so I am going to stay at home for the holidays. This get even better. This year I'm not going to have to go to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. Hallelujah! I can stay at the house with my son and relax and I don't have to waste a couple of hours of my life spending time with people that I don't want to speak with, much less "celebrate".

I do understand that my wife is despondent about not having a big Thanksgiving Holiday with her parents and that part of her family. I decided to help out. I'm fixing a huge Thanksgiving Dinner and will have it ready and waiting for her when she gets home from work. I'm cooking a classic Thanksgiving dinner mostly from scratch. To give you an idea how much from scratch I'm working, last night I made vegetable stock to go in the brine for the turkey. I'm roasting a whole 23lb turkey, two different turkey dressing, two giblet gravies, creamed corn, green peas, fried apples, mashed potatoes, a sweet potato dish, crescent rolls, yeast rolls, and cranberry sauce. I'm also fixing Pumpkin Pie, Strawberry-Acorn squash pie, and a caramel pie for desert.

Now this sounds like a lot of work and it is. It's just that I enjoy cooking and this is a challenge that I'm looking forward to. Ok, I have to admit that I'm in a pretty good mood because I don't have to go to the in-laws. So today and tomorrow I will be cooking up a storm and Friday I'll turn around and be canning up a lot of the leftovers. Waste not want not.

R.E.A.L.