Thanksgiving Journal Recipe Book

The journey of a turkey journal and how it all began.

For the first 20 or so years of my marriage my job on Thanksgiving was just to eat two meals and wash a lot of dishes. This was because our Moms lived closed by and liked to cook so we would visit both of their houses on the same day, one in the afternoon and one at night. Since they had done all the work of cooking I didn't mind washing the dishes. Truth be told I liked it much better too!

   So 10 years ago when it finally became my turn to make the meal I was a bit of a wreck!  Definitely would have been nicer to figure that all out when I was younger, had a better memory and could take these new experiences in stride. 

  I managed that first year with the help of my wonderful husband who promised me that if the turkey did not come out he would run to the store and buy some salmon, bless that man! 

And I had a red NOTEBOOK.  I had called both of our Mom's and asked for their recipes and advice and carefully wrote them all down in that notebook.  It had the menu so I wouldn't forget anything.
  It ended up turning into a journal too because  I wrote down what we did after dinner, who was there, and any thoughts I had for improvements for the next year.  Little did I know how helpful that book would become as the years rolled by. I can now calmly pull it out and read all my scribbled notes on how to cook all the dishes and smile over past memories. 

This year I started early and enjoyed the whole process at much more leisurely pace.

  I began shopping a couple weeks ahead of time since there have been times in the past when Aldi was out of some items during the week of the holiday.  So I added this page to the book.
Things to buy ahead of time:
 2 bags of frozen  french cut green beans,
 7 big Sweet potatoes,
Can of fried onions,
canned Cranberry sauce,
2 Sparkling fruit Juices - had cranberry and blueberry grape this year,
Yukon gold Potatoes,
2 Chicken Broth cartons,

One year I made a shopping list in the notebook which includes everything!
Have learned this the hard way as in different years I have run out of  tin foil, poultry seasoning and other things that are usually just there without thinking about it. They are now on the list.


Another year I made a list of  how many cups of  each of the veggies I need for all the recipes.
 2 cups of onions, 2  cups celery, 1 bag of potatoes, one bunch of parsley etc
Then I could  sit down at the table with a big scrap bowl and cut up all the veggies at one time and know that I had everything I needed.   My oldest son used to nicely help me peel and cut up raw sweet potatoes and almost needed a hatchet! I mentioned this jokingly to my Mom  and she told me to parboil them first and oh boy, so much easier.   That method is now in the notebook.

 This year  I am adding a new schedule for cooking the meal because I liked how it turned out.
I had bought my Turkey early since I wanted a 15-17 lb one and there wasn't many that size at the store, lots of 10 lbs (too small) and 20+ lbs (too big).  Having spent one year up half the night because I bought the bird two days before and wrestled to get the plastic handle out of it until 2 in the morning, I vowed to buy one by Sunday at the latest!  This year I bought it even earlier than that, which I thought was great until I realized that it had been thawing in my fridge and maybe I waited too long.  Oh that bird!!  Everything depends on how it comes out.  The cost, the worry, the blessed relief when it is done and looks and tastes good!
 So I woke up on Tuesday and thought I have to cook it today.  It was nice to know that the bird was all nice and browned in the roasting pan in the fridge on Thanksgiving morning.  It was already covered with foil, so I put it in the oven by itself for a hour and a half at 350 and it came out nice and hot. and tender.  Yay!  Yep adding to the book to cook the turkey on Tuesday, the rest of the dishes on Wednesday and if I ever learn how to make pies will add that to Monday.

So if you like this idea my advice to you would be to buy a nice notebook.  My poor book looks rather forlorn, with cooking stains and well thumbed pages but I am truly thankful to have it.