Back to the kitchen (where I belong?)

Another Thanksgiving, another marathon cooking session.  Thanksgiving is "my" family holiday by default.  Most of our family members live in Ventura County, California, a little over two hours' driving time from our residence.  However, my FIL, who is 90, lives just an hour from us.  Thanksgiving is the only time during the year that he gets to see our children and grandchildren (his grandchildren and great-grandchildren) so I persist in being the go-to cook on Thanksgiving.

I do love to cook, but this is beyond a normal cooking session.  Being a firstborn, and seriously anal, I have several plans committed to the computer.  I have a recipe plan, then I have a weekly plan, then I have a daily plan, followed by an hourly plan for "THE DAY."  YIKES!  Why do I do this to myself?  Answer:  because I know no other way of doing things.

Following the day-to-day plan, yesterday I made the turkey spice rub, shredded the Swiss cheese for the corn bake that my son-in-law loves, and checked the silverware, china, and crystal for spots and other indelicacies.  Today, I made the sweet potato casserole (no one will know that it is 2 days old by the time they are eating it), chopped up all those veggies that will eventually go into the dressing, corn casserole, and brined turkey.  Then DH and I cleaned the rented tables, set them up in the dining room, ironed the rented tablecloths, and placed the carefully inspected china, crystal, and silverware on the table.  Thanks be to the heavens above, my placecards that were made last week (according to plan) look fabulous with the candles that were bought several weeks ago on a whim.

Bright and early tomorrow morning, I will make the dressing (thank you, friend Merle), simmer the turkey stock, cook and mash the potatoes -- and hope that all this is done before FIL shows up!  Once he is here, I will feel obliged to converse, discuss financial deals that don't really interest me at all, and play hostess all the while stressing internally about what is and is not ready for the big day.  Please, oh pretty please, let him be late in arrival ....

Oops -- also on the agenda for tomorrow:  get the serving dishes down from the incredibly high shelves in the kitchen, remind DH to sharpen the knives and watch videos on YouTube about carving turkeys, remove turkey from the plastic wrapper and find all that stuff that they hide inside the various cavities so I can use it to make stock, wash the turkey roaster -- oops - find the turkey roaster, then wash it, review cooking instructions from Butterball, set timer for Thursday so turkey goes in the oven in time for a 3 p.m. dinner so that DD and family can eat and be on the road to get back to Ventura County in time to put the kidlets to bed before their nervous systems are completely destroyed.

Best part of today?  Telephone conversation with 3-year-old grandson who requested crackers and chips for Thanksgiving dinner!!

Reminder to self:  Relax and have fun!

Hmmmmm ....