Happy 15th Birthday Anna!

My First Turkey

 Our church has a Thanksgiving dinner early in November each year. I've known that the church buys turkeys and people cook them and haven't really given it a second thought. This year the week before the dinner it was announced that they still needed people to cook turkeys. I sat there and thought about who would likely cook turkeys. I realized that most of the kitchen team is in their 80s and probably getting tired of cooking turkeys. It didn't take me long to realize that it was me, in fact, who was in the age category that needed to cook a turkey! That moment when I realized that, in fact, I am the middle aged woman with older children and a kitchen big enough to accommodate a 22lb turkey.

And so I approached the people I needed to talk to and asked if they still needed someone to cook a turkey. In fact, they did and they were delighted that I would be willing. I did not admit that had never cooked a turkey before. 

I went over to the church kitchen and retrieved one of five over 20lb turkeys from the freezer and brought it home to thaw for the week. 

At this point I'm figuring this is a pretty smart move on my part. I don't have to decided what to take for this Thanksgiving dinner and the turkey I cook will be one of five so no one will know who cooked the turkey they are eating. 

I also needed to figure out how I was going to bake this turkey given that we have church Sunday morning and the meal is at 5:00 Sunday afternoon. I decided to get an electric roaster. I figured an electric roaster will come in handy when I cook full holiday dinners and need oven space. 

Sunday morning I put the turkey in the roaster, turned it on and went to church. We came home and the house smelled like Thanksgiving and the meat temperature was correct. Success!

Jeremy made me look really good. He carved the turkey and arranged it neatly in the dish. It happened that my dish of turkey was placed first as people walked through the line so by the time we got our food, it was gone. 

Next time I'll find a recipe and dress it up a little bit. This bake was just for confidence! I sent my sister the picture of a big turkey taking up my whole refrigerator and her response was "Wow, you are really grown up now!" 

 

Joy Dare::October

 12,710. A bit of cool in the air today

12,711. Losing track of time looking at pictures

12,712. Josiah's friendship with Henry

12,713. What do we put our trust in? God > Google
12,714. Isaiah really enjoys PE class
12,715. Feeling more caught up
12,716. Making ice cream cake
12,717. Sean hanging out with us for a bit
12,718. Family evening
12,719. Celebrating Isaiah
12,720. The challenge of making ESL lessons
12,721. Making Isaiah's favorite meal
12,722. Celebrating our church launching a new Haitian church
12,723. bible study on the porch
12,724. Making a photo book
12,725. The brightest moon
12,726. Walking with a friend
12,727. Passing Josiah playing disc golf while I was walking
12,728. My favorite dahlia bloom

12,729. Lunch on the porch with lingering conversation
12,730. The way Aliza showed up and held to her own beliefs
12,731. Candle flames on a rainy day
12,732. Bible study
12,733. Watching for meteors with my boys
12,734. Getting back into the practice of morning walks
12,735. A little time with Josiah
12,736. Praying
12,737. Safety while driving
12,738. Heslop cousins reunited for a weekend
12,739. Family singing in the car
12,740. Josiah and Ronan playing
12,741. Isaiah had the best day with Evelyn and Florence
12,742. Perfect afternoon for outside visiting
12,743. Home in time for "all the things"
12,744. Banana bread
12,745. Getting settled for the week
12,746. Chatting with Janell
12,747. Anna
12,748. Fall bud

12,749. Sun after a few days of rain
12,750. Getting a couple minutes to catch up with Melinda
12,751. Maggie
12,752. Isaiah and Sean's friendship
12,753. Saying Yes to staying to play on the playground
12,754. Actually felt like ESL class went well
12,755. Shakes for a snack
12,756. Renee and Lydia with us
12,757. Josiah's laid back personality
12,758. Steak dinner after senior pictures

12,759. Coloring on the porch

12,760. Double date

12,761. 6 kids playing games
12,762. A Sunday with nothing extra
12,763. Feeling prepare for the week
12,764. Isaiah's thoughts
12,765. A day with Anna

 

12,766. Reading books with Ronan in his tent
12,767. Catching up on everything happening at home
12,768. Showing up
12,769. Driving with the windows down
12,770. "I will not let my feelings tell me who God is. I will tell my feelings who God is." That Sounds Fun podcast
12,771. Isaiah excite about a piano song
12,772. Studying 1 Samuel
12,773. Stayed up way too late with Aliza and Josiah
12,774. Morning light in fall leaves
12,775. Relief and a full heart at the end of ESL class
12,776. Isaiah having fun with friends
12,777. Talking to my mom
12,778. Learning to be content in my roles
12,779. Playing piano
12,780. Fall yardwork with blue sky
12,781. When my children make my issues so very clear
12,782. Listening to the same podcasts as Aliza and the conversations we have about them
12,783. Crisp morning air
12,784. A rejuvenating evening
12,785. Given a blessing--"May He grant you a roar as big as your big sister heart and may it go before you and bring victory." 
12,786. Being Aliza's A&P study partner
12,787. An evening at hoe I wasn't expecting
12,788. Aliza was able to help Anna with her math
12,789. Camden Road is open again
12,790. The laughter when Josiah "tucks Isaiah in"
12,791. Conversations
12,792. Colorful leaves brighten rainy days
12,793. When my child calls me a "truth-spitting, honesty bomb"
12,794. Isaiah was my Halloween candy buying buddy
12,795. Working one on one with some students
12,796. Long, but productive, school day
12,797. Home all day
12,798. Family movie (Karate Kid) and candy night