My grandma always made the best pies but in her older years, she began to serve storebought pies for Thanksgiving. I could never understand why she would do that and now . . I think I know! Just too much to get done in too short of a time! We bought pies this year. And we didn’t even buy a pumpkin pie. We bought pecan and apple pies.
I bought rolls. I’m still on the fence about whether to make rolls or use the storebought rolls. It will all depend on how much there is to do at the last minute. I don’t think there’s going to be that much so I’ll probably make rolls. There’s nothing like leftover turkey on a sandwich made with a homemade roll!
There’s just the two of us. We had several friends invite us over but Thanksgiving seems like it should be a time for families and . . we aren’t their family and besides . . if we go somewhere else, we don’t end up with leftovers and leftovers are the best part of the Thanksgiving meal!
Several years ago I used a dry brine for our turkey and found that we like that better than the wet brine I’d be using.
Spices for Turkey
Added a bit of soft butter and mix it all together.
Spice for Turkey
Rub it under the skin on the bird! Rub a little on the skin.
Brine for Turkey
Season the outside. I used Slap Ya Mama . . which is about the best spice mixture ever!
Seasoned Turkey
Stick it in the brining bag and place in fridge til Thursday morning.
Turkey
The giblets have been boiled, sliced and the neck meat shredded for the gravy. The broth will be used for the gravy.
Broth & Giblets
Cornbread has been made and will be left out to dry a bit before the dressing is made on Thursday morning.
Cornbread
Most of the prep work is done . . the Thanksgiving feast will be delicious.
Our Thanksgiving menu:
- Roasted Turkey
- Cornbread Dressing
- Giblet Gravy
- Cranberry Sauce
- Green Bean Bundles
- Sorghum Glazed Sweet Potatoes
- Watergate Salad
- Rolls
Tomorrow I will make the green bean bundles, the Watergate Salad and assemble the sweet potato dish. I guess I’ll have time to make homemade rolls . . I talked myself into it.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving . . especially in my fridge.
Debbie Rhodes says
Sounds good !! I forgot the Watergate salad , now to decide if it is worth a trip back grocery store Nope will wait !!!
Sherrill says
Hmm, the dry brine sounds interesting. I always wet brine mine. Maybe if I can find a recipe, I’ll try the dry.
Terri S. says
We cooked a turkey today, since we are having Thanksgiving with friends and family and we aren’t hosting, and we like to have the leftovers too. The host is providing the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, and I am bringing the rest of the sides and dessert including butternut squash, corn pudding, green bean casserole, cranberry apple salad with homemade cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, my grandmother’s fruit salad, pumpkin pie made from home cooked pumpkin and lemon meringue pie (my husband’s favorite). My oldest son and his wife moved back home from Florida this summer and it will be the first time since 2003 that we’ve had all our kids together for Thanksgiving. The squash is done and in the freezer, the cranberries are made. I’ll do the rolls and the cranberry apple salad tomorrow, make the pie crusts, mix up the filling, and put the corn pudding together so on Thanksgiving I just have to bake the pies, the corn pudding, the green bean casserole and mix up the fruit salad.
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday!! Wishing you a happy one!
wanda j says
Looked for you recipe for dressing, wanted to see how you make it.I didn’t find just wondered if you do like the rest of us southern gals do.
Now what is in your dry brine? Do you pick up skin and rub allover the bird? that bird looks mighty skinney by the way. More like a wild turkey to me.
Have a great Thanksgiving wish you could be with the kids this time of year.
JudyL says
I’ll see if my dressing recipe is posted somewhere . . though it isn’t really a recipe, just something I do.
Storebought bird and it’s 17 pounds, which is way bigger than I wanted for just the two of us.
Carolyn says
I always season my breads the night before and cover it. That sure made a difference. By the way, reading the about all this while drinking my morning DP sure makes me hungry. Thanks for the Slap Your Mamma hint.
JudyL says
Have you tried the seasoning yet?
Linda in NE says
I agree with you wholeheartedly about the Thanksgiving leftovers…especially the sandwiches made from dinner rolls and turkey. Add a little dressing & gravy and a little cranberry sauce…perfect! Here they sell frozen dinner roll dough that makes the best dinner rolls…way better than anything I’ve ever made from scratch. I didn’t get any because our daughter hosts Thanksgiving so there won’t be any leftover turkey to eat with them. I know I’ll have leftover cranberry sauce 🙂 so I’m going to roast a chicken and make dressing & gravy on Friday so it won’t be lonely. hehe Have a Happy Thanksgiving…I know you will eat well.
Diana in RR,TX says
I was all set to make a turkey. checked with Dad a few weeks ago-yes, turkey is fine as long as I make his oyster filling. Yesterday when we were there-you are making the cob smoked ham for dinner, right? Came home, took the last one out of the freezer to make. Of course the turkey had defrosted. Saw my one neighbor today-asked her if she could use another thawed turkey? It is now at her house-she figures by the end of the weekend, there will be 28 who have come and gone. And left overs-a family of 5, no problem. I just couldn’t face cooking a big meal tomorrow and another one on Saturday and then dealing with all the left overs.! So it is ham, still will have stuffing-regular for us and oyster for Dad. Decided today, the pie will wait until Friday-we will appreciate it more!
So now I am back to trying to find a home for things from Dad’s apartment. We told the nephews tonight to be on the look out for 40 ft containers headed their way. We had been trying to downsize!!!!! I think they had some comment for their uncle! Happy Thanksgiving!
Diana G says
Sounds good !!! What time are we ..errr never mind~LOL
We will have a small TDay celebration and will be thankful for every morsel we put in our mouth, our friends and families. Thankful for a day of rest (after the fixings are all done). Hubs asked me to make a skillet Bread so that is what I am making (got it off the internet and hoping it turns out). Mashed taters,gravy (giblet with turkey and chicken stock of course the giblets!) White Trash Bar, 1 chocolate cream pie, 1 banana cream pie. Green bean casserole, and skillet bread. Of course the main star of the meal Turkey… Oh and I forgot chocolate covered pretzels. LOL Good thing I am wearing my “mom” jeans LOL
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours … Eat lots and enjoy the day !!!
Karen langseth says
I just have a comment about pie….I’m a snob when it comes to pie, actually the crust. I haven’t been able to find a great crust from a store bought pie…so pie is one of the things I will always make as I always have time for pie.
Nann says
I make pie frequently. In my opinion it’s not the filling that’s hard, it’s the crust. I long ago gave up making piecrust and instead buy packaged crust. The store brand (Aldi, Wal-Mart) changed a year or so ago. It would not unroll without tearing even when at room temperature. I switched to Pillsbury and have no trouble.
Our dessert today (Thnx) will be sweet potato cheesecake. It features a touch of ancho chile as well as cinnamon. I clipped the recipe from Parade magazine (11/22).