Thanksgiving prep work fills the weekend

We have four children coming for Thanksgiving from three different states. I can't wait to see them. Today we've been cleaning house, checking the inventory of clean sheets and towels, doing a bit of prep work for Thanksgiving dinner. I've made dinner rolls which are now in the freezer; taken stock of what I have on hand (frozen cranberries, cans of pumpkin), and bought a few groceries: leeks and sausage to go into my favorite sweet potato casserole, apples for pie. (I highly recommend this savory sweet potato recipe from Bon Appetit, with thyme and parmesan cheese. You can make it a day ahead of time and then heat it up when your turkey's almost done. )

When it comes to cooking a turkey, I don't understand all the food page stories that come out this time of year, offering advice as if this is a daunting challenge. Roasting a turkey is so easy. First I pull the neck and giblets out and let those simmer in water to make a nice liquid for my gravy. Then I stuff the bird, put it into my big foil-lined roasting pan, rub with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover very loosely with foil and roast at 325 degrees according to the package directions. I baste the bird once in awhile, and about 45 minutes before the end of the estimated cooking time, I remove the foil so the skin browns nicely. I like to buy a fresh turkey, so I won't shop for that until Tuesday or so, and I always get one with a pop-up timer. (Is there any other kind?) Those little timers are wonderfully accurate, in my experience.

Here's my simple recipe for pretty basic bread stuffing:

1 large onion, chopped fine
1 cup chopped celery
1 tablespoon dry sage
1/2 stick of butter
6-8 cups unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, pressed
A cup of raisins or chopped apples, or a combination of both
Chicken broth to moisten (about 1/4 cup)

Melt butter and add onion and garlic. Cook about 5 minutes, until onion is soft. Combine all ingredients except broth in a large bowl. Stir well. Add enough chicken broth to just moisten the bread crumbs.

If you're game to cook some of the stuffing inside the turkey (I always am), set aside about half the stuffing for that purpose. Then butter a baking dish and put the stuffing into the dish. Pour a little extra broth over this. Cover with foil and set aside until the last 45 minutes your turkey is in the oven. Then just bake this with the turkey, on a lower rack. For the stuffing you're going to actually put into the bird, spoon that into the cavity loosely just before you put the bird into the oven. Truss up the cavity and roast as directed.