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Gettin' Ready for Thanksgiving

© Dar Cheek

Anyone who loves to cook must love Thanksgiving! I probably enjoy it more than Christmas because whenever I say I'm going to cook, I have a house full of friends and family. I ask everyone I invite, "What would Thanksgiving not be Thanksgiving without?" I try to have everyone's favorite dish.

Dave has to have green bean casserole! I hate the stuff, but he can't have Thanksgiving without it. His younger brother has to have three bean salad. For my sister-in-law, there absolutely must be strawberry cheesecake, NOT cherry cheesecake as I learned last year. I'm greedy. I have to have two things - broccoli casserole and fancy sweet potatoes. EVERYone insists on a different dressing. Some won't eat onions, some won't eat celery, and some won't eat either. I fix it my way, with everything, and they can wait to be picky at my mother-in-law's house next year.

Of course there must be devil's eggs, giblet gravy, home baked yeast rolls, cranberry sauce, Watergate salad, and PIES! Lots and lots of pies - pecan pies, pumpkin pies, fudge pies, caramel pie, and chess pie. We have to have cheesecakes topped with blackberries, cherries, and strawberries. You've got to have the baked, stuffed pumpkin from last month's Halloween article, too.

The week before Thanksgiving is spent baking cornbread for the stuffing and practicing/taste-testing pies (you HAVE to taste test!) You've got to go through your freezer and check out what you put up from your garden, too. You've got to have fried, sweet white corn, turnip greens, and squash casserole! Oh, and a turkey and my famous cranberry ham! Now, it's time for recipes.

Turkey

1 turkey
1 whole onion
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp bacon grease
2 tsp ground sage
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

I put my turkey in a large roaster lined in foil and stuff the turkey with one whole onion and a couple of stalks of celery. Then I rub the turkey all over with bacon grease and sprinkle heavily with seasonings. I put the turkey in the oven at 250 degrees F the night before Thanksgiving at about midnight. I get up at 4 a.m. to peel back the foil, turn the oven up to 300 degrees F and start basting, and I continue basting every half hour until about 10 or until my turkey is golden brown.

Turkey tips - http://www.homefoodsafety.org/news/tips/...

Cranberry Ham

1 plain old picnic ham

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