Rain, rain, and more rain. Perfect weather for getting a jump start on Thanksgiving cooking. We are having our feast on Wednesday as Claui has to work on Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday I made a gallon and a half of turkey broth from wings and backs. This will be used in the gravy and the dressing. On Thursday I made sweet potato rolls, bagged them up and stuck them in the freezer. On T day, it'll just be to thaw and heat them.
I also made quite a lot of cranberry sauce -- some for the table and some for my grandmother's cranberry gelatin salad which I'll make on Monday. (I also copied and printed out the recipe which is almost illegible from fifty-odd years of use.)
Another recipe that needed copying was the pumpkin chiffon pie -- the recipe that makes pumpkin pie worth eating. It's too early to make that -- but I may make and freeze the pie crusts this weekend and I can do the almond brittle ahead too.
More turkey backs got roasted so I would have the drippings to make my gravy. (A gravy which turned so good I had to stop myself from consuming a bowlful.) Into the freezer it went to be thawed and heated in a crockpot on The Day.
And I chopped celery and onions and sautéed them in butter. They'll go into the dressing -- which I blush to say is Pepperidge Farm - one cornbread, one regular. I've made my own before using homemade bread and homemade cornbread and it's never been as good. Possibly memory plays a part here -- Pepperidge Farm was the basis for my mother's and my grandmother's turkey dressing.
Of course others will be bringing their own additions to the feast. There'll be more than we can eat and the leftovers will be delectable.
This cook will enjoy the whole thing even more since so much will be done ahead of time.
And who knows, maybe there'll be sunshine.
Addendum as of 10 pm -- I'm not sure if it was snow or sleet but I walked barefoot in it for my health.
