Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Wednesday of Thanksgiving week

The morning begins with the two of us heading out to the barn together to try to figure out what happened to Peach. The brown chicken. Old, but reliable. She hadn't shown up last night for the ritual of locking up the coop at dusk. Ed and I searched everywhere for her, flashlights spanning the barn walls, favorite bushes, the garage -- nothing.

This morning, we hunt in the barn with the help of daylight. The five remaining cheepers come out, demand their corn and go about their business. What happened to your sister? You guys are so... corn focused!

We think we hear a quiet chirp, but the winds are high, the chickens are squawking their displeasure at the weather and the cats are meowing because we didn't feed them first. We're about to return to the farmhouse when Ed throws one glance behind a bunch of boards. We'd checked there before, but what we had missed was a small platform. Peach was there alright, wedged solid between boards. In other words, stuck. She must have tumbled down and then eventually fallen asleep. She would have surely died there had Ed passed the spot in our final search.

Chickens are really really slow witted about their surroundings.

(Breakfast)


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It's my day of cooking, but it starts slowly. Ed and I are feeling chatty about issues big and small. The cooking waits until it can wait no more.

Goal for today? Season and prep turkey. I've had the bird split up this year!


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Make gravy. Yes, really. A day ahead. A super duper gravy that has you roasting extra turkey wings with aromatics of mushrooms, ginger and garlic. It is the most complicated gravy I've ever made. It takes up the better part of the afternoon.


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The recipe calls for for tossing the extra turkey wings after I'm done milking them for their essential flavor. No way! I mine them for shreds of turkey meat which Ed and I use for a supper of stuffed turkey tortillas. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone we ate turkey the day before Thanksgiving!


What else? Make stuffing.


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Pick up pies. That's right  -- pick up. Not bake. Pick up.

There are other things on my list. Muffins. Cranberries. Prep this, prep that. But I don't get there. I end with the gravy and the stuffing.

I mean, there's always tomorrow, no?

Happy, happy Thanksgiving Eve!