Thanksgiving Cooking Marathon/Bonding Session

Christopher, Stacey and I had about a 12 hour cooking marathon/bonding session today in preparation for Turkey Day! We did lots of yummy stuff that I can't wait to taste tomorrow.

Aunt Stacey and Mary Reese supervising the start of the marathon:

First we brined the turkeys:

According to Tyler Florence, "If you not brining, you not doing turkey the right way." These birds are soaking in salted, sugared water with garlic, onions, green peppers, celery, oranges, lemons, limes, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme and oregano. Tomorrow he is frying 3 and cooking 1 in the oven wrapped in a wine soaked cheesecloth.

I made countless batches of cornbread and biscuits, then crumbled it all in the food processor to make dressing:

Christopher chopped up tons of onions and celery, then I sauted them all in a little bacon grease and olive oil. He also minced some fresh parsley and fresh sage. We stewed some chicken thighs to make our broth. Pat Smithson the came over and helped Debbie and I put the dressing together and dish it up in "Kitty-style" dollops:

{My sophomore year in college, the Auburn/Alabama game was played Thanksgiving Day at Legion Field. The Smithson and Willis Families decided to have Thanksgiving together that year because all the dads and kids were going to the game. While we were all at the game, our moms and Kitty {Pat's mom} stayed home to prepare the Thanksgiving Feast. My mother was getting ready to just dump the dressing in the pan when Kitty grabbed the spatula out of her hand. Kitty said you have to put the dressing in the pan in dollops. Ever since then...we have been dolloping out our dressing Kitty-style.}

Baby Carter and Mary Reese had a little coloring session later on in the afternoon:

We also made some sweet potatoes stuffed in orange cups that you top with marshmallows and pecans, a chocolate-coconut-almond cake and a cranberry/orange relish. We had a wonderful day in the kitchen!

More pictures tomorrow of the turkey frying and all the other festivities! Hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day!