Even though I was taking my dear old mother out to dinner, I still needed to prepare an entire Thanksgiving feast - with all the trimmings. It's a *me* thing... Got up at 7 a.m. made cornbread stuffing with thyme. Prepared turkey the way I learned last week on the DIY Network. Butter, orange zest and orange juice, sage and thyme rubbed over the bird (which btw, was only 9 pounds and barely even resembled a turkey) Roasted for one hour at 350 without opening the door, and then, basted every 30 minutes until done. See, I usually stick the bird into one of those cooking bags and hope for the best. This was my first experience with the basting. Fun! I couldn't figure out why the liquid kept disappearing - until I saw it was all inside the cavity of the bird!

Whilst the turkey was roasting, I baked some yams - and a banana! This was for what turned out to be a fabulous yam, banana and pecan casserole I got off Food 911. Oh.My.Gawd.It.Was.Delicious. And I hate yams!

I didn't have time to complete the homemade gravy (from the pan drippings - with added apple cider and cream - again DIY - but I'm going to do it later this evening...

My kidlet spent Thanksgiving with her father (who it seems, is about to obtain his second divorce) and grandfather. I took my mother (who is coughing and sneezing with a terrible headcold) to a cute little restaurant near my home. They served a pretty damn good Thanksgiving dinner - and the place was crawling with old geezers. My mom was in her element - dowager humps, blue hair, walkers and canes strewn all over the place! We chit-chatted, me dodging virus infested dropplets as she hacked and blew. She felt pampered and part of the cool, old-lady crowd. The entire event was actually less painful than I had imagined it would be.

Now I'm home and about to change back into my sweats. I'll fool around with the gravy, and relax a bit. Tomorrow - it's up and out the door for Christmas shopping by 8 a.m.! Woo Hoo!

November 28, 2002