Thanksgiving Meal Thoughts and Tips

Can you believe that this week is Thanksgiving? Not me, it really snuck up on me this year.
We are planning a much smaller celebration that usual. We normally have at least 30 people here, with my entire extended family and several "semi-family" type folks. This year the family is just not up to that, with my Mom now in a nursing home and not able to make the trip from Ft.Worth to Stephenville. So, our celebration will be just the girls and their families, and a few others, probably 22 in all. It will be  sad to not have all my family here, but, we are also looking forward to a more relaxed day, to visit and play with the kids.

I love that we have a day set aside to remember to give thanks. That is awesome. (I know, it has become about football and shopping a lot, but don't remind me of that. Let me enjoy this thought.)
My mind is filled with thoughts of what I am thankful for, from the great mercy and grace of God down to the soft comfy tennis shoes on my feet, and a thousand things in between. I am truly grateful.
I also love all the traditions of Thanksgiving; turkey and dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes...
Now for tips. I am no Martha Stewart, not even a Paula Deen. But, I have hosted a bunch of Thanksgiving meals, and I will share a few things I have learned.

Turkey... there are a million ways to cook it, and I have tried a bunch...bake, brine, smoke, slow cook...but, the last few years I made it REALLY easy. I cook the turkey in the oven a couple of days early, just bake it according to any easy method, basically at 350 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.Let it cool a little bit, then take all the meat off the bone, put the meat in a large plastic bowl with a lid that seals. Mix some spices with chicken broth, whatever your taste is; cajun spices, mexican spices, traditional poultry seasoning, then cover the meat with chicken broth and refrigerate. Thanksgiving morning, put the turkey meat in a large pan (I use my roaster oven so that the oven is open to cook other food) and heat it slowly and thoroughly. This makes the most delicious and moist turkey.

Another benefit to this method is that I don't have a turkey carcass to deal with. All the mess was taken care of before Thanksgiving day. Of course, this means that I don't have that beautiful brown turkey sitting on the table with the head of the house carving it like on TV shows. Actually, this system ended a point of conflict at my house. My usual helpful husband refused to carve the turkey. I had to beg someone to do that and it caused stress right at the time I was trying to get the food ready to serve.

Sides...don't make food that noone likes because you think you should. One year, I made cooked fresh sweet potatoes, FOR 30 PEOPLE. I bought a huge bag of potatoes, peeled them, cut them, and steamed them because I thought they would be so much healthier and tastier. Most of the family prefered the mushy canned yams with brown sugar and marshmallows. OK, lesson learned, cook what the family likes. So what if it isn't as healthy, it's only one day.

Don't stress. For several years, my extended family has come to my house for Thanksgiving. My parents and sisters and their families live in the Fort Worth area and they only come to my house two times a year, for Thanksgiving and for Easter. Because of that, I really wanted the house to be perfect when they came. I would clean everything, floors, windows, even curtains, and expect that my husband and daughters help me do it. I was stressed and irritable by Thanksgiving morning. That's not the way to start a special family holiday.

So, let's relax, enjoy the day, don't try to make it the picture perfect.