Thanksgiving Day preparations at the bus garage

1. Get a turkey. This year I had purchased a 10lb bird from Price Cutter on Wednesday evening. Later that evening, my sister Joan called me and, due to a change in plans, she and Greg had a 18 free range bird from Momma Jeans. She wanted to know if I was interested in it.


2. Take all the stuff out of the inside of the turkey, stuff like this turkey neck. Someone in our family cooked a turkey one Thanksgiving day with the neck and giblets still in the bird's cavity. The relative is reminded of that instance everything Thanksgiving.

3. Grease up the bird with Crisco or, if you forgot to get crisco when you went to the store because you, Mr. "I don't need a list, I can remember this, there's not that much" not only forgot to buy coffee creamer but also forgot to buy the Crisco, (hey, I've got a lot on my mind, I'm a busy man), vegetable oil or olive oil is a satisfactory substitute. Salt and pepper bird.

4. If not equipped with a popup temperature thermometer, use a meat thermometer stuck in a meaty portion of the thigh but not touching a bone. This is a job for the PvtRN, she has experience giving shots and this meat thermometer is the same principle as giving a shot, only bigger, much bigger.

Turn oven on and preheat oven to 335.

Buy plenty of bread

The night before, have teh bus driver pick bread apart in bite-sized pieces and spread out on table to dry out. Drying out the bread, in theory, makes for a less soggy dressing, but it take a fine touch to cook the dressing until moist but not soggy. My wife and her mother had that touch.

Put bread into the top of the roasting pan. This is the basis for the family tradition dressing. Bread, onions, celery, broth and pan dropping. Oh yes, an butter, lots of butter. set aside.

Tell husband to smile for camera as he is pulling bread apart. (Yeserday, Regina and I celebrated out 37th wedding anniversary. We went to Pizza House on Commercial Street for dinner. It was wonderful. One of our first dates was at Pizza House. I'm a lucky fella!)

Put turkey into oven.

Take turkey out of oven, put tin foil tent over top of turkey, put turkey, now with tin foil tent (to keep top of bird from burning) back in oven.

Cook the bird for the length of time obtained by doing a complex algebraic formula involving feet above sea level, oven cavity temperature, denseness and weight of turkey, ambient outside temperature and a graphing calculator. Or, you can stick a fork in it and when it comes out easily, it's done. (Thus the origin of the phrase, "Stick a fork in it, it's done."

Now, usually at this part of the preparations, the PvtRN and I will sit down, drink a couple cups of java and read the SN-L. However, because it rained and our paper was thrown in the driveway and slip back down to the ditch, it is soaked and un readable. I can get the news on line, but The PvtRN can't get the ads on line. bummer.