Thanksgiving in July!

Yesterday, as I bought the fixings for a turkey dinner, the Publix cashier winked at me and said "It's not important what day you eat it, it's the 'thanks' that matters." I am very thankful to have my partner back from a trip to Pittsburgh, thankful for the beautiful weather today and especially thankful I'm not a vegetarian.

The stuffing was made from a loaf of cubed wheat bread and was simple with sauteed onions and celery, tarragon, sage, salt and pepper. I stuffed the turkey - which makes it take about 15-20 minutes longer to cook, but it's worth it. Keep basting it so that the breast meat doesn't become dry during the extra cooking time. I took the turkey out of the oven when the stuffing in the cavity reached 165 degrees.

My partner made the gravy using her mother's recipe (thank you, Marilyn, it was perfect). I also made fresh green beans and sweet potatoes. I readied the turkey for the oven in minutes by rubbing some vegetable oil into it with tarragon, sage, salt and pepper. I also tented it with foil for all but the last 1/4 of cooking time.

You might notice that it's almost 9 pm, and we had this meal at around 3 pm. After eating, we lapsed into a tryptophan induced sleep for a few hours, only waking when Hedwig luckily decided to practice whistling- otherwise we might have slept away the entire evening. I think I hear the leftovers calling my name now, but I'll resist and look forward to turkey sandwiches for the next couple of days. I love turkey on wheat toast with avocado! I encourage you to make this special meal, no matter what time of year it is- and give a little thanks along the way...and the eggs.