thanksgiving

 we decided to play it safe and not have anyone over, nor go anywhere, for thanksgiving.  we did have 3 zoom calls with family which was nice.  i am proud of the full menu i made, including a 19+ lb turkey!  although this year has not been ideal, we still have a lot to be grateful and thankful for.

i actually baked the turkey yesterday.  daddy helped be break down the whole  bird on tuesday, and then i applied a dry rub to the pieces and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight before baking wednesday afternoon.

it took less than 1.5 hours to roast.  i split the pieces into four 9x13 pans because i did not want the juices to overflow on a baking sheet.  in addition to the dry rub, i applied a fresh herb mixture to all surfaces and placed the pieces on top of cut up vegetables, lemon halves, and chicken broth.  it sure smelled like thanksgiving while it roasted!

after cooling several hours, daddy deboned the meat for us.

i also made dressing, corn casserole, and cheesy potato casserole on wednesday just to stay ahead of the big day.

then today - before, after, and sometimes during our zoom calls with family, i made the rest of the meal:

roasted sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, & gravy. (not pictured: rolls)

and who can forget dessert?!  pecan pie bars, and my friend alicia made me (us?) a coconut cream pie.....but no one likes coconut beside me!! yum!

happy thanksgiving!