Hi there!

We are now in the home stretch of our series. If you need a review of everything we have covered so far to get ready, here you go. You have done a lot.

Yes, you still have the actual cooking to do, but you have a plan,. Yes, you may have some less-than-perfect relationships to navigate, but you’ve got boundaries in place and plans of action to handle them, too.

In the end, it’s just one more day. One more day with a lot of good food.

Everything is going to be fine.

Better than fine because there will be pie. (Or, in my case, because there’s going to be andouille sausage cornbread dressing, but we all have what we look forward to.)

What are we doing today, brain?

Well, no, that’s later.

First, we are making room for the turkey in the lowest part of the refrigerator.

Why? If you have a frozen turkey that is 21 – 25 lbs, it must come out of the freezer tomorrow., but it won’t hurt to let it start thawing today.

Please remember to place it in a container to catch any liquid. You don’t want raw turkey juice pooling in your refrigerator. It’s not fun to clean up. Also, if that liquid gets into a produce bin, you’ve got a nasty cross-contamination situation. Let’s prevent this from happening.

Second, we’re getting out the shopping list we made and ensuring we have everything.

Why? Because unless you live alone, people eat things. And last time I checked, you’re people, too.

Go through it and make sure you have everything. More important, check the containers to be sure that someone didn’t carelessly put back an empty or nearly empty container. Do you really have a pound of butter, or is it a mostly empty box with a single stick?

That canister of fried onions, make sure no one has been sneaking bits for the last two weeks, leaving only crumbs.

The bag of chocolate chips for your pie, is it actually full or did someone prop it up to make it look full, so when you pick it up, you find it alarmingly light, with only a quarter cup inside?

Do I have teenagers?

Yes, four of them and apparently a couple of strays named Not Me with insatiable appetites. Important side note, if you are an actual friend of my children who I ask to join us for dinner, I am not talking about you. You are welcome, and I love having you over. Just tell your friends —my kids—to put what they finish on the list on the fridge. Thanks. Now, don’t you have something more entertaining to do?

Recap:

Two tasks today:

Make room for the turkey and check to make sure you actually have the ingredients you have been buying. If you don’t have them, buy them.