One fresh turkey, one in the smoker, and a ham. Then a whole roasting pan of nothing but homemade-from-scratch stuffing made from various homemade breads from the last few months that I had cubed and dried in the oven.
I am starting three loaves of bread in the morning, too. One white, one wheat, and one rye. I assembled the necessities for a pie today, but don't tell anyone it don't have punkin in it....am using carrots and gonna laugh when it's all slicked up and no one notices! I peeled the taters and boiled them today, plus roasting several sweet potatoes. That way I only have to reheat them later.
I dug to the bottom of the chest freezer and pulled out a dozen ears of corn that I had roasted on the grill at the peak of season. They will get warmed in the microwave prior to serving, too.
Someone is bringing the green bean casserole, can't have Thanksgiving without it, in my opinion. Cranberries were farmed out to a friend that makes the best whole cranberry relish I have ever eaten, bar none.
I have put out the invitations to a whole lot of folks and have 14 rsvp's from people that had nowhere else to go for the day. My whole kitchen will be filled with warming dishes and hot plates. I will start feeding folks about noon and probably see the last of them show up around 4 p.m. I always follow a new arrival thru the buffet and load a tripled up paper plate with everything they serve themselves. They think I am just loading a plate for myself, but when they go to sit down, I wrap the plate and mark their name on it. It's my way of making sure they take leftovers home, but only things they like.
All told, by watching sales and taking advantage of coupons throughout the year, I am doing this whole feast for under $90. I am downright poor, but I can scrape this up. I know for some of the people that slide their feet under my table this will be the best meal they see for the year.
And I give thanks that while I have far from all I want, I have very few needs left unmet. I am thankful that I have enough that I can give back, because so many have so often given to me when I was in need. I am thankful for all of you here on this forum and for all you do to be supportive of newcomers and old timers alike.
So tomorrow morning when I get up at 4:00 to start the smoker, I am going to start listing names of people I am thankful for. Quite a few of you I only know by username, some by real names, and others by the bows I have seen you post. Even if I miss a whole lot of people, I may not finish my giving thanks before I run out of day. What can I say, I am a lucky guy and I know I am blessed beyond anything I ever deserved.
Take a slice and pass it along.
