Staying Sane During Thanksgiving

This was my first Thanksgiving that I hosted, which meant that I cooked the turkey. It kind of seems like a promotion in the kitchen or something. I've only cooked one other turkey in my entire life and that was only for my husband and I so the stakes were not high. This year, however, we invited friends over, so the stakes were a teensy bit higher, though not really because they are practically like family. Most Thanksgivings include lots of travel, cooking, family, noise, and commotion, and near accidents as well as love, laughter, and memories. We just were not feeling up to that this year, so we opted out of traveling and crowds and stayed home, sharing dinner with some close friends. Except for the near accident part.

Everything was going well with the turkey. It was dressed and seasoned and in the roasting pan. After it had only been in the oven for 2 minutes we started to see smoke and then the three smoke alarms in our apartment started to go off, including the main alarm for the entire apartment building! We immediately took the turkey out of the oven, turned off the heat, and opened doors and fanned away the smoke. So grateful I wasn't the only one home!! The problem wasn't the turkey, but was some grease at the floor of the oven that dripped from something I had made the day before. The only way to proceed was to clean the oven...which we did after it cooled down enough. Three hours later we had a cooked turkey and a clean oven. Win-win. :). Luckily the rest of the day went by without any undo excitement. 

This is what I cooked: 

• Coconut Oil-Basted Turkey with fresh herbs and citrus from ThriveMarket.com

• Real Turkey and Herb Gravy from America's Test Kitchen
• Savory Sweet Potatoes with Rosemary and Thyme (omitted the bacon due to budget)
• Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries and Pecans (used homemade goat cheese)
• Homemade Cranberry Sauce made in the crock pot 2 days in advance for less hassle
• Pumpkin pie in a pecan almond crust

What Adell brought: 

• Pumpkin Rolls with Honey butter (oh wow, these were good!)
• Paula Deen's Green Bean Casserole
• Stuffing
• Mashed Potatoes

Tips for a Sane Holiday

• Cook with recipes you already know. While I love to experiment in the kitchen, I knew I couldn't handle three or four new recipes on top of the turkey, which was a fairly new experience for me.  Leave the experiments for non-holidays. 
• Team together to do the cooking with friends. And enlist the husband to help too. :)
• Make what you can ahead of time. I did this with the pie, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes. 
• Wash dishes (if you can) while the turkey is cooking so that you only have to clean up the dinner dishes instead of all the prep dishes and dinner dishes. 

The silver lining: 

The turkey turned out pretty good for it only being my second attempt ever, though I know what to do differently next time around to make it even better. Even though I didn't really love the turkey like I normally do, our friend who "hates turkey" said it was the best he's had. I call that a success. 

Happy Holidays my friends. May you find peace and love and joy amidst all the hustle and bustle of the season.