Still working a week behind!

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun even though I did get rather harried before all was said and done.

For some reason, I have never been able to get a turkey cooked in the time it’s supposed to.  It almost always ends up cooking too fast, even though I check the temperature of the oven and follow the recipe to the letter.  This year was no exception.

I was using a new recipe that I got from “The Week” magazine, that was supposed to include basting the turkey with an orange or tangerine glaze during the last half hour or so of cooking.  Unfortunately, when I went to baste the turkey about 90 minutes before it was supposed to be done, I poked it with my instant-read thermometer… and it was done.

Yeeow!

We had guests coming and they hadn’t arrived yet.  None of the vegetables were cooked.  I had not finished the mushroom pie that was our vegetarian entree.  The stuffing was only partially done.

So I went into Warp Speed Cooking mode.  First I turned down the oven to “warm” and left the turkey in it.  Then I dealt with the sweet potatoes.  I was just getting going on slicing up the squash when our first contingent of guests arrived.  Phew.  At least, I thought, someone will be here to eat the turkey before it all dries up!

I scurried and hurried and got everything all done, and then took the turkey out and set it on its platter to rest while I made gravy and mashed the sweet potatoes.  Our guests had a good time talking (and, in the case of their 5-year-old son, checking out the coloring book and crayons I bought him) and then everyone helped carry stuff to the picnic table outside.

Hooray for California weather in November, when you don’t have enough space to feed everybody inside!

Our other guests had a snarl-up with LA public transit, and didn’t arrive till the rest of us were winding down, but the turkey was still good and there was plenty of everything else left, too.  After they ate, we all had pecan pie together.

Afterwards, of course, the kitchen looked like a bomb went off in it…  but who cared?  I had a lot to be thankful for!

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