Gobble Game Plan Day 4
Thanksgiving is an important holiday. We can add yet one more thing to Abraham Lincoln’s list of great services he did this country in that he proclaimed that a national day of Thanksgiving be held each November. Gathering with family and friends to enjoy one of the best meals of the year, watch some football and most importantly stop and reflect on all the blessings we have to be grateful for is just downright therapeutic. Speaking of the best meal, it is time to talk about the bird. How are you going to cook your turkey? It is not super complicated, but it is super important. You do not want to have your family meal resemble a scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I am sharing the recipe below that we have used for years as a good option for a juicy flavorful turkey that really will taste as good as it looks.
Delicious Testimonials
First, buy the size turkey you need and cook it according to instructions per pound. Cut up apples, celery and onions and put them inside the turkey as well as around it in the pan. Soak the cheesecloth in a mixture of white wine and melted butter and lay on top of the turkey prior to baking. Baste the turkey throughout cooking with extra mix as well as pan drippings. Turkey should reach an internal temperature of 165.
At this point, I want to point out a tool that I use several times a week, a Thermapen by Thermoworks. You can get one for around $79-99, but I promise you it is worth it. It takes the guess work out cooking meat. Is it done? I don’t know. It’s ok. Thermapen knows. This is a great gift idea for any grillers you know. While we are at it, let me recommend some onion goggles too. Get yourself a little stocking stuffer. They come in different colors and they work. Truthfully, I use my mini chopper for smaller chopping or dicing to avoid the onion altogether. But there are occasions that call for bigger chunks or slices and I love my goggles for these.
Thermapen: Buy it here
Mini chopper: Buy it here
Onion goggles: Buy them here
Here are some additional ideas for you and your little turkeys on the big day:
- Turkey Cinnamon rolls: I mentioned in an earlier post that we do not really have a breakfast tradition for Thanksgiving morning. You can add bacon to a large cinnamon roll and make this a fun breakfast for the kids. I used sausage links instead of pretzel sticks for the feet. Check them out here: Turkey cinnamon rolls. I believe it is the second item featured in this article. I know theirs looks better, but ours was just as yummy.
- Turkey Trouble:Here is another cute book by Wendi Silvano like Turkey Treat or Treat. Turkey is at it again, this time trying to disguise himself in the hopes of avoiding being the main course.
- Grateful Turkeys: For this turkey craft, you just need colored paper, glue, and a stapler. I like that you can write something on each feather that you are grateful for and you have the choice of making it a headband for the kids to wear or you can use them at the kids table for decoration.
Turkey craft: Instructions here
- Paper pumpkins: I really love these pumpkins. It is so easy and again, I love that you are talking about what you are thankful for and these are super cute on the table. You just need orange and green paper and a stapler. These are probably my favorite. It is the 3rd one on the list in this article below.
Grateful pumpkins: Instructions here
- Turkey Cupcakes: These turkey cupcakes are a great idea for a special treat for the kiddos. They are so cute. I shared my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe in the Halloween post titled, “An Entire Week of Hocus Pocus,” but I am adding a link to it here as well. My boys loved these. They get a kick out of anything with the candy eyes, but the cookies and the candy corn make these super cute. I had forgotten we used M&Ms the first year for the tails, so that is a good option too.
Turkey cupcakes: : Instructions here
Chocolate cupcake recipe: : Recipe here
Now, you are ready for the big game. Pun intended.
Give Thanks
There are some people who are instinctively positive. They are the ones who see the glass as half full. People who are great for pointing out the bright side of every situation. The ones that say, “It is really a good thing you missed your connecting flight because you avoided having to fly through a bad storm.” I am not sure that is most of us though. I think if we were honest, most of us would admit that we keep moving at the speed of life dealing with all the things that come our way the best we can. We have to make time to slow down, stop and appreciate the scenery. Noticing the little things and counting your blessings in the midst of everyday life is important. It can be even more important when things are strained. I think it is great that we, as a nation, carve out time to do just that. The scenery this year has certainly been interesting. For most of us, it has just been the backyard, or front yard, given that we could not really go anywhere for several months. For others, wildfires ushered in an all-day foggy haze to add increased difficulty to an already repetitive view. Tragic loss of life, economic hardships, civil unrest, isolation, and loneliness have taken a toll. All of us have been impacted, including me. As I think about the first Thanksgiving, I know we focus on how grateful they were to have survived the winter and learned to work the land. They could have easily focused on all the hardships and loss, and there were plenty. However, they chose to set aside time, hold a feast and be thankful. So, can we. School may be a much bigger challenge for teachers and students, but we can be thankful that our kids can get an education. We can be thankful we have jobs, even though the way we do our work may look different. Even though the groceries the personal shopper dropped off may not exactly resembled what was ordered, we can be thankful we have food. Though we may miss getting together in person, we can be thankful for the technology that allows us to meet at all. Being thankful helps relieve the mind from the stress of focusing on what we do not have and see the abundance of what we do have. That, in turn, helps us see how we can help others. Not only are we able to help in our abundance, but in our need. We can help others as they go through similar challenges we have faced. One of the greatest blessings God gives us is each other. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” We can help lighten the load by being a comfort to those experiencing similar struggles we have faced ourselves. That one simple phrase, “Give Thanks,” encompasses the absolute best spirit of the holiday. We can give to others and we can offer thanks. One great way to give is to participate in Operation Christmas Child through the Samaritan’s Purse international relief organization. If you have not heard of this program, I encourage you to visit the website link below. It is a worldwide effort to deliver gifts and essential items to children all over the world who otherwise would not receive much in the way of gifts, if at all, at Christmas. It is a great project to do with your child as a way to foster a generous spirit and teach them about the needs of others. The website says they collect boxes the week of November 16-23rd so there is still time!
We select a box for a child around the same age as our boys and enjoy picking out toys and items together. This is just one great way to spend some time with the kids reminding them the importance of being generous to those in need. There are many ways. If you have any particular traditions you do with your kids, I would love for you to comment and let me know. Always looking for new ideas!
In one of my favorite shows, a character told the story of a man who fell down a hole. A minister walked by and the man shouted up asking for help. The minister wrote down a prayer and tossed it down to the man and kept going. Later, a doctor was passing by and the man shouted up again asking for help and the doctor wrote out a prescription and tossed it down to the man and kept walking. A little bit later another man came by and again the man in the hole shouted up asking for help. The man passing by, jumped down in the hole with him. The trapped man was upset explaining that they were now both trapped. The second man replied, “Yes, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.”
I hope your turkey is perfect and your team wins (unless they are playing my team)
Check out tomorrow’s post for the icing on the cake. Literally. Desserts!
