That this one is over.

The Good Thanks Given:

-The brine ::I originally devoted an entire section of this post to the subject. It was titled: Brine's Song.::

-The roasted vegetable gravy.

-The apple pie.

-The homemade crusts of Pumpkin Pies #s 1 & 2.

-Pumpkin Pies #s 3 & 4, store bought crusts notwithstanding.

-The Cabana Who Goes To The Store on Thanksgiving Eve, without mocking or complaint.

-The premade crusts from the dairy section of the grocery.

-Mashed potatoes from Gordon Foods.

-Did I mention the Gravy? I am therefore unapologetic about the store bought potatoes. The Gravy makes the potatoes, any way you peel 'em.

-The wine. ::Have you tried the Little Penguin Cabarnet Savignon? Good and cheap. Cheap and good. Mmmm.::

The Bad Thanks Given:

-First round of crusts for the apple pie. There's a fine line between flaky and falling apart like a jilted prom queen.

-Pumpkin Pies #s 1 & 2, created with the Cakers. With lots of love. And no sugar. This bitter reality was not caught until 10 p.m., when I was fixin' to throw together the apple pie and grabbed the sugar canister from the pantry. Only then did I remember that it was the first time all day that I had grabbed said sugar canister from the pantry, two beautiful pumpkin pies cooling on their racks notwithstanding. ::I love cooking and baking with my daughter. However, I need to develop better resolve to not be so easily distracted by excitement over four successful egg cracks in a row, as I was heading for the pantry. For the sugar.::

-The lost package of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme.

-The nightmare I had about my Thanksgiving turkey sinking into a murky pond and my trying to poke it back to the surface with a rake, while my dinner guests sat at the table. Evidently, my subconscious had a hard time with my Turkey soaking in a brackish bath, in a cooler, in the garage, overnight. I also had a dream that a furry animal got into the cooler, drank the brine and died instantly. Thanksgiving morning, I found the animal in the cooler, floating along side my Turkey. Before scaring myself awake, I remember dream-thinking "I'm sure any related dead animal germs will burn off in the oven."

Okay, the outline form is getting tiresome now.

The bottom stress-line for me was that at 11:00, instead of popping a Tylenol p.m. and tottering off to bed for a night of peaceful sleep, I was starting on a fresh batch of pumpkin pies, followed by another set of homemade crusts for the apple pie. And it wasn't until after the pies that I was able to get to the brine.

At one point through all this, I worried that I had jinxed myself through some unknown act of human irreverance. I later felt kind of silly about that line of thinking, but have decided to keep my promise to no longer buy my jeans "off the pile" at Costco. ::Hey, I figured that, superstition or no, something good should come of my epicureal travails.::

All said and done:
The turkey was a plucky success.
The gravy was groovily suave and fortified with an earthy richness.
And the wine was my best friend.
Hopefully said friendship will continue at least through this evening.

In Pictures, Eye Can Delight
After dinner we had to run off to my sister's house for dessert, so I couldn't finish cleaning up and spent the better part of today putting the kitchen back to rights. I did, however, take a mid-day break to capture the essence of my holiday centerpiece in the afternoon light.

You are strongly encouraged to embiggen all. I would like to draw your particular attention to the textures of the yellow flower in picture number 1. However, before clicking on picture number 2, please clear all children and fertile women from the vicinity.