Let the Cooking Begin

No doubt Thanksgiving is a one of the most labor intensive meals to prepare an eat.  It takes a long time to make all those sides (and, god forbid, you leave one out or suggest changing the menu),  a long time to eat (second helpings are mandatory),  and a long time to digest as evidenced by those guests found in a semi comatose state stretched out on the sofas at the end of the evening.   But to me, above all,  Thanksgiving is a labor of love, a gift of goodness to my family.  Like tonight, I spent the entire evening just preparing the gravy for Thursday's bird and, good vegetarian that I am,  I'm not even planning to eat it.

This afternoon, I went to the Terminal and bought pounds of turkey necks and backs.  I  chopped them up (is there anything grosser than turkey fat) and then browned them in the oven.  Next I threw them in a pot with water and onions, herbs and carrots and simmered the stock for a couple of hours.  I strained the stock (saving all the solids for little Wilbur!) and then boiled it down to concentrate the flavor.  It took me all evening but now I have a container of gravy fixings sitting in my refrigerator ready for Thursday's main event.

Tomorrow evening, I'll prepare the stuffing, one version with sausage and one without.  Wednesday evening I'll set the table and prep the brussel sprouts and the roast vegetables. There's already applesauce and onion confit in my freezer.  I just have to remember to take them out in time, something I forgot to do one year.

I love to cook and I do it a lot but preparing Thanksgiving dinner makes me feel like a real housewife or what I imagine a  real housewife was supposed to be like in the 50's.  Remember all those movies where Mom is in the kitchen making dinner.  She's wearing high heels, a cute little dress and an apron.  Nowadays a "real housewife" is a botoxed hottie in tight pants who spends her days bitching about her girlfriends and getting treatments.  Definitely no apron.