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Holiday Preparations
(series – Thanksgiving)

By Dahni
© 2023, all rights reserved

Besides Food, What Else Can Be Done on Thanksgiving

The annual Macys Day Thanksgiving Parade – But of Course!
Apple Toss – With baskets and red and green apples for points and scoring (make your own rules)
Chop Firewood – This will warm your heart and someone’s hearth. What a great gift and exercise too
Make a DIY Candle – pour some wax into some old metal piece of junk, add some wicks and there you go.
Start a collection of heirloom cast iron skillets to hang on your kitchen wall

Take a Drive – Go get lost. Enjoy the adventure! (always have a map and GPS to get un-lost at the end.

Take a Walk – with your dog, a friend, family member or some kindred spirit.

Read a Book – to yourself or to children. Maybe both.

Susan inspired (my wife), Kid friendly Craft – make something turkey-delight with the kiddies

Rake leaves —Throw yourself into a pile or throw some other kids into piles

Look at Family Photos

Gather ‘Round a Firepit – roast some weenies, marshmallows and or S’mores – tell tall tales, get all smoky😂

Collect Food Donations

Be a secret Turkey Dinner Dropper-Offer – Take a whole dinner or the makings ring a doorbell then run away

Gratitude Game — (a paper plate, some glue, rope, fabric, a pushpin, ink pen and letters. Spin the fabric around on the pen until in stops revealing what is underneath. 6 possibilities. Whatever it lands on and whose ever turn it is, tell everyone what you are grateful – say the word and then elaborate a little on that word

Make your own Tic Tac Toe game — with stones, pinecones and a piece of wood and stuff.

Volunteer at a food kitchen

Make a Family Heirloom Table Runner — Take inspiration from television personality and cookbook author Nancy Fuller, whose linen table runner features the signatures of family members. To create your own version, have family members write their names with a disappearing ink pen, and then stitch over the hand-lettering.

Write Letters to Soldiers – those that cannot be home as they are serving us freedom and even those veterans that have served us freedom that may be alone this Thanksgiving

Write Letters to Santa — for yourself or help other children write and send theirs🤣

Interview Family Members – make a journal, a book or a recording

Host Your Own Turkey Trot– run walk or push baby carriages and wagons around the neighborhood. Organize your own version of a family Turkey Trot, whether it’s a one-miler, 5K, or something in between. First turkey across the finish line gets all the leftovers!

Watch a Holiday Classic Movie – Holiday Inn – Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

Football – if you have to? 🤣

Some Open Stores on Thanksgiving (limited Hours- yay)

Whole Foods
Kroger
Buc-ee’s
Harris Teeter
Meijer
Safeway
Rite Aid
Walgreen’s
CVS
Dollar General – In case you want to start your stocking stuffer stuffing early😂
Family Dollar
Cabela’s
Bass Pro Shops – Besides just shopping, take the whole family for fun and frivolity and maybe even a chance to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas. I did 8 years ago. 😂

Many closed on Thanksgiving, including Walmart. Good on them!

Restaurants (if you don’t want to cook)

Red Lobster – sure seafood for Thanksgiving, why not!
Dunkin Donuts
Golden Corral
Waffle House – Yay!
T.G.I. Fridays
Ruby Tuesday
Popeye’s
Subway
Ponderosa
Bonanza
Applebee’s
Sonic
I-Hop
Bob Evans – “Down on the Farm!” 😂
Cracker Barrel – Even if you don’t eat, or buy a thing, it’s worth just looking around! 👍
Sizzler
Denny’s – But of Course!

Others may be open and others closed as they all should be. But if they are open, just go anyway!

OK, and Then There was Food

   Even now, it is pretty likely that you already know what you are going to cook. Some don’t like turkey. Some will have ham. Some look forward to leftovers, making new dishes with those leftovers and soup. This year. I’m bringing champagne, some apple sugar spice for champagne flute rims, apples for slices and apple cider. I call these Apple Cider Mimosas. Figure it out and make your own.

Susan (my wife), is bringing batches of her world-class cranberry, orange,🍊 walnuts and white chocolate scones. My sister and I don’t care if they are frozen, served hot, warm or at room temperature. We figure we are good for about 1 every half hour. 🤣 Make your own or ask Susan for her recipe.

Now if you want turkey that everyone will like, do the following. Susan’s dad never liked turkey, but he loved this. I did not like dark meat, but I do with this. As a matter of fact, even though we grew up with turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas, looking back, I never liked any of it. It was just something we did and combined and smothered under with the good stuff like gravy, masked potatoes, dressing and cranberry, to mask the blandness of turkey— white or dark. That’s the way it was for years for me anyway until…until I came up with my Citrus Salt Rub years ago. I will give you the ingredients, but you will have to either buy my book when finished or figure out how to do it on your own.

¼ cup of coarse salt
¼ cup of virgin olive oil
1 whole lemon🍋  cut into halves
zest from the whole lemon above
5 sprigs of fresh whole rosemary

Zest the lemon and combine with 2 sprigs of finely chopped rosemary, olive oil and salt. Mix together.
Pour olive oil onto clean and dried turkey. With hands covered with culinary gloves, coat inside of turkey with the oil too. Place the two lemon haves into the turkey cavity and the remaining 3 sprigs of rosemary.

Coat the outside of turkey with the citrus salt rub. Elevate turkey in pan to contain the salt drippings as it melts. Envelop entire turkey with aluminum foil not just cover, ENVELOP! Cook 350° F until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Raise temp to 425°F, remove foil and allow to brown for about ½ hr. Let rest. Carve. ENJOY!

The secrets to this citrus rub.

   Salt tenderizes to the point the turkey though still juicy, falls of the bone. The lemon, oil, and rosemary get the flavor into every part of the turkey, white or dark meat.

Note: be careful if using drippings for gravy or soup etc. as it is really salty

For left over ham, get a sister name Carol Lee to make some Ham Jam Sammiches’!

Enjoy your day and be Thankful!