What a great day!  We had lunch at Joy’s and per our tradition, went over and decorated Pop’s house for Christmas.  Not all our family was in attendance, but those of us who could, gathered together and made a wonderful day of it.  We missed you, Adam, Alex and Will.

So, here’s a few pics from our day…

We missed Mother…

Well, Thanksgiving celebrations are winding down and folks are going home…stuffed.  Our dinner was wonderful, we all contributed and there was an abundance of everyone’s favorites.

I, roused out of bed at 5:oo am to put the turkey in the oven.  To be clear…this is the new Butterball Roast in Bag.  It was easy as could be.  Open the outer bag, place turkey in roasting pan, cut 4 slits in bag, slide into the oven for 4 hours at 375 degrees.  Just the same as my Jennie-O.

I went back to bed and soon the aroma woke me and I went to check on it and all looked well.  It was browning nicely.  Lots of juices in bottom of bag.  I waited the allotted time and removed from oven.  Let it sit in bag for 20 minutes.  Then I was ready to open it up.

Here’s where the trouble started.  The bag was stuck to the turkey.  As I pulled it away, all that glorious browned skin came off with it.  This has NEVER happened with Jennie-O.  My plans were to take the turkey in its all together state and carve it when we got ready to eat.  No.  That was not what happened.  I finally got the bag off and tried to lift the turkey onto the platter.  It fell to pieces.  The bones slide out and the turkey…she had no shape at all!  This has also NEVER happened with the Jennie-O.  I ended up having to use a large knife and tongs to get all the meat out of the pan.  It was not the vision of loveliness I expected to share with the family.  Instead, it was sliced as best as I could do.

Now the taste…it was good.  BUT.  Not as good as the Jennie-O.  There was not the same seasoned flavor that we all loved.  But, it was just fine, as far as turkeys go.  Everyone said it was good and they certainly ate it up and took leftovers home with them.

To sum up…the Butterball Roast in Bag was tasty, but the appearance was disappointing.  The Jennie-O Cook in Bag is both extra tasty and pretty to look at when done.  So, I will continue to search diligently for Jennie-O and hope to be reunited with her before next year…but if not, the Butterball is a fairly good second choice.

Hope your day was as special as ours was.  We laughed and talked and heard wild stories.  We prayed together and feasted together and then went over and decorated Pop’s house for Christmas.  A wonderful day filled with sweet memories.  God is so good!

Oh! Me!  Oh! My!  Here it is, almost Thanksgiving, and I am all in a dither…or a tizzy…or bum fuddled!

If you keep up with me, you know my turkey experiences.  I have raved and raved to you about the fantastic, marvelous Jennie-O turkey that is oven ready and cooks in its own bag.  Easy as can be and that’s how I like it.  And not only easy…but delicious, too!

I have looked everywhere for my tried and true…best ever turkey, and I can not find it anywhere.  I even have a friend who has been keeping an eye out for me, too.  (Thanks, Em!)  But no luck.  I have even gone to their website to see if I could find out where they are available in our area…and they are NOT!  I even checked to see if I could have one shipped to me…they don’t do that.  (You know dry ice and all. ) Actually I was looking for two…Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am on turkey duty!

Well if that didn’t put a damper on my spirits.  Cause doing it the ‘old fashioned’ way is quite a chore for me.  But, that’s just me and my lack of culinary skills.

So, I find myself at Wal Mart last week and I asked about them.  The girl I asked said, “Yes, we have them, but they are in the back.  I’ll go get you one!”  “Make it two,” I said.  And she disappeared.  Friends, I might have done a little happy dance…I’m sure I was grinning!  The turkey fairy had smiled on me and I was going to get raves from the family on Thanksgiving Day…because you. can. not. mess that turkey up!  So, I waited and I waited and was beginning to think she had gotten stuck in the turkey freezer!

Out comes a man and asks me if I was looking for the turkeys in the bag.  I told him I was and he went over to one of the cases and pulled out a turkey.  It was NOT a Jennie-O.  It was a Butterball!    And, it was only a turkey breast.  I told him that I needed the whole turkey…and I was looking for MY brand.  He begins digging down into the bottom of that bin and he pulls out a turkey.  A Butterball!  In a Ready to cook bag.. just like the Jennie-O!  I took it and it looked very similar…so I asked him to dig one more time and get me another one.  And, he did.  The directions for this turkey are almost exactly like the other one.  No thawing…no washing…no slipping out of your hands and landing on the floor.  Just put in pan, and bake!

So, just to update you.  Can not find any of Ready to Cook in bag turkey by Jennie-O…but, found a similar looking Butterball.  I will try it on Thursday and report back to you.  Butterball usually has great turkeys…so we’ll see.  I have had four people contact me this year asking where to get one.   Sorry, folks.  but, for those in a bigger city, you may have better luck.  *****EDITED TO ADD*****A friend contacted me about a recall on some of Jennie-O products.  The list did not include whole turkeys.  So maybe that is why they are scarce.

When I am doing cooking things, I like to stay with the things I KNOW work well with my skill level.  But, I’m a brave girl and I can venture into new territory if I have to.  So wish me luck, and I’ll poll the family on Thanksgiving Day and let you know the verdict.

Hope your turkey (whatever the brand) is tasty and that your day is filled with such happiness that the memories will stay with you far into the future!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Mama,

Today is your birthday.  It is a Sunday morning.  You would have been 86 on earth today,  and knowing you, you would be just as neatly dressed and coiffed as ever!  I sincerely doubt you would have on long pants unless it was bitter cold…which it certainly is not right now!  But your out fit would be a complete ensemble of panty hose, shoes, purse, and jewelry that matched.  (I think some of that stuck with me…but I’m really OK with the pants thing now…just never shorts or jeans.  I think you would approve!  Very few men wear a suit and tie anymore.  Church is way more casual.  But, Don and Tommy and Pop and a few others who are our age or older still do.  Joy wears pants, too!) 

You would sit in your special place next to daddy.  You would not be very at ease in the song service,  There would be mostly songs you didn’t know.  And all that clapping would not set well with you, for sure.  However, You would sit next to Pop and smile and just hold your clasped hands gently in your lap.  We usually sing 1 hymn. You wouldn’t need a book…you always knew all the words to every hymn we sang!   And you wouldn’t even look at the screens… (you did not like those either.  You said it made our church look like an auditorium instead of a sanctuary.)  I guess its a sign of the times…every church you attend has those screens now…no one uses hymnbooks anymore.  Of course, hymns are very rarely sung, either.  There would be many familiar faces missing in church this morning and that would make you very sad.  But, there would be a lot you still recognize and you would hug and love on them!  You would also see a lot of new faces…and this would make you very happy.  It always bothered you that we did not reach more of the community that surrounded us.

  Don and I would be sitting behind you and Joy at the piano…Tommy sitting with her.  None of your grandchildren go to Southside now.  But, they are all serving in churches around the city.  They would make you proud.  Even your great grandsons who you never met on earth, are very involved in church.  They have made a profession of their faith at their own churches and have both been baptized.  Their parents are bringing them up just like you and Pop did…and like Joy and I did.

You loved to hear Joy and Pam play a beautiful offertory.  You listened to every note.  You would know if there was a single mistake.  And, your beautiful white hair would be bobbing in time with the music until they finished.  Everyone else would clap when they finished…but you wouldn’t.  The words to the music they were playing were holy and reverent and you held your hands and smiled and thanked God in your heart.

The beautiful flowers in the church today are in honor of your memory. You have so many friends who still love and think about you.  The work you did in missions and on missions trips is still talked about.  The little 3’s who passed thru your group ’s class were indeed blessed.  You reached out to those who were shut in and sick and lonely.  You must have baked thousands of your famous pound cakes and took them warm to those who were on your heart.  You wrote note upon note upon note!  The recipient never knew if it would be silly or serious!

You made people smile, Mom, everywhere you went.  You were a lady.  You are a gem of a mother.  I hope you get a party in heaven today.  Perhaps, angel food cake!  Or maybe all the celebration you need is to remember your family and your church and your friends.  We all love you still and always will.  I, for one, feel your spirit close to me all the time.

I’m sure today you are worshipping in a temple so grand we would not believe it!  And, I know…I just know…that you are in the choir with the angels!  And, you see Jesus!  Oh, Mom!  I am so happy to know you see Jesus face to face!

I love you forever!

Hey, save me a seat in the choir next to you!   It’s OK…God’s gonna give me a new voice!