Holy Turkey Feathers!!!

It's almost Thanksgiving! I was sitting here thinking about doing womit laundry (Winston and I both had stomach stuff last night, blech), and The Mr. reminded me that I might want to order a fried turkey from the place down the street. We do this every year, but I just thought I had more time or something!! ACK!

I also need to nail down my menu so I can get crackin on prep work. So let's look at the current plan, shall we?

Thanksgiving 2008 Menu (so far):

Fried Turkey - I grew up, at least partly, in Louisiana, and this is the best tasting way I've ever eaten turkey.

Oyster Dressing - Same concept. it makes my husband very happy, the boys love it. My mom doesn't like oysters, so I'm think of just leaving some oyster-free at the end of the pan for her. It's a Paula Deen recipe. She's a great resource around the holidays!

Roasted Butternut Squash - I used to make Giada Delaurentis's butternut squash lasagna, but when was nine months pregnant with Wednesday (he was born the Monday after Thanksgiving 2006), I switched to Rachael Ray's butternut squash and I like it much better. The left overs can be used in muffins, alongside your left over cranberry sauce (Catherine Newman recipe from last year). So yummy!

Brussel Sprouts- This is a Giada recipe that I've modified a little bit. Most of what my family considers traditional Thanksgiving food is not what my husband and I grew up eating. I did this on purpose so we;d have our own traditions as a family.

Green Beans - I'm doing these this year too. My brother is coming and I think he might knock me upside the head if I made him try a brussel sprout. The recipe I used last year was a mix of two I found in the 2005 Southern Living Christmas Magazine. I might get my Mom to do these in my un-opened pressure cooker to give us more room on the stove.

Cranberry Sauce- Out of the can. The end. :)

Gravy- I made my own last year and put livers and gizzards to make it taste good. This year I'm leaving out the gizzards. It tastes really good!

Veggie Tray- This is a tradition taken from my Grandmother's Thanksgiving table. A bunch of veggies, black olives, pickles, and ranch dip. I usually offer two dips though.

Dessert- This is where I'm stick this year. I try to change it up but still use traditional flavors. Last year we had grits pie (Paula Deen) and Gingerbread Pudding in the crockpot (Southern Living Slow Cooker cookbook). Since my parents and brother are coming I want to do even more traditional things so they don't miss being at my Grandmother's house too much. Pecan pie? It will never be as good as my Grandmothers...sigh... Maybe some kind of bar with pecans? Something in the crockpot would be good because it's easy and out of the way for the rest of the day. Maybe some kind of crumble in the crockpot. I can go searching through the Crockpot Lady's archives and find something delicious, I'm sure.

So there we have it. That wasn't so bad. Thank you for letting me use this space to figure out my plans!! Now I just need to start a grocery list of all the stuff I can buy this week so I don't have to fight the crowds next week!!

I've asked for a solo Target trip to get Wednesday's birthday stuff. And I need a trip to Michael's to get craft stuff for Winston's Feast on Friday. I offered to do the craft. I couldn't bring myself to just bring small corn on the cob or cheese squares!!

I may come back later today to add things here. I'd love to know what your Thanksgiving tradition are as well!! Would you share them with me, please?