I love turkey and after just having our Thanksgiving weekend there is certainly enough leftovers. Picture this after feeding eight people including myself there was enough turkey left over for sandwiches, and a big pot of turkey soup. However there sure seems like a lot of work doing a turkey dinner. It takes a full day to put it together no matter how organized you think you are or how much early preparation is done. But all was good and I believe everyone went away full, the first hint in that area is the fact that the two desserts were untouched. No problem I sent the kids home with the pumpkin pie divided between them and put the Apple Betty that I had made into the fridge. I have a great recipe for the Apple Betty that is done in a crockpot, this is very handy since the crockpot can be pushed into a corner on the counter, therefore it is not taking up valuable space which is needed for the potato mashing, turkey carving etc. or space in the oven, because if you have an oven the size of mine only the turkey is fitting in there.

After this wonderful feast comes the cleanup. Usually I have my soup pot out to start throwing the bones into as the turkey is being carved, but for some reason that did not happen this year. With the dishwasher filled to the max and help from my daughter and her soon to be sister-in-law the kitchen was cleaned up. You would think ah all is good, nope, the next day is turkey soup making day and it does not take long to have it look like a disaster area. Picture this a big pot on the stove with the bones boiling away, fridge open in order to locate the leftover vegetables, and anything else that might be good in the pot, dishes that were not put away from the night before as the girls were unsure where to put them, and I was too lazy to do, cupboard doors open where the great variety of mysterious spices are hidden, food processor going,dishwasher running etc. There is not a lot of counter space in my kitchen, in fact some people probably have more counter space in their bathrooms, so running out of space I have now placed a large cutting board across the sink in order to compensate. I know you think what a great idea!, not so, the problem with this is that now I have one sink overflowing with dirty dishes and the top of the other one covered with the cutting board and I have to try and get around all of this to make more space without sending the board off the sink, and trying not to get the clean dishes still on the counter from the night before dirty again, and I had to bring out another pot for soup since the first one is not big enough. Of course while I was trying to make space and chop veggies the first pot decided to boil over and then the phone rang. My phone is always on the other side of the house as well,so I had to run to get it on time, oh but life is good it was my daughter Rachel calling from Ontario for help with the recipe I sent her for Corn Bread. So juggling the phone I managed to get the over boiling pot slowed down and helped her with the recipe.

We did manage to have a big bowl of fresh turkey soup before my other half had to go back on the road as well as some of the Apple Betty.

So there it is one day to get the dinner ready and one day for clean up. I still have leftover turkey which did not make it into the pot so today I will keep out enough for my dinner tonight and the rest is going to be wrapped up and frozen. I hope it is gone before Christmas. (And I still need to put dishes away)

Reflecting on all this I want to express my thanks for being lucky enough to have this abundance of food and friends and family to share it with. I am truly blessed.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 6:34 AM 3 comments