Who are you and what have you done with my year?  It sure doesn’t seem like a year since I tried turducken for the first time.

So I have a loaf’s worth of bread cubes drying in the oven for my favorite dressing recipe ever…My mom’s. *insert heart shape here*

There is a 15 pound bird thawing in water in the kitchen sink.

There is chopped celery and an onion in the fridge. Now while that may not seem like a really big deal to you? It is to me. I went to the grocery store last night to snag a bird and the rest of the fixins, and there was not one stalk of celery to be had at the local Food Lion. WTH?  NO CELERY? Two days before Thanksgiving?  UNHEARD of.

I went off to work this morning with that nagging thought in the back of my mind. I even DREAMED about it. Who would have thought that some tasteless zero-calorie veggie wannabe would consume that much of my brain, anyway?

I called home and told Johnny I’d stop at the IGA since it’s right down the way from the hospital. You know, that way he wouldn’t have to go out if he didn’t want to. (Do y’all remember what happened the last time I thought I’d save Johnny a trip to the store?) Fortunately, nothing hit the ground (well, except for the loaf of bread I dropped, but it was going to be cubes, anyway), but what should have been a ten minute excursion took well over thirty minutes.

Note to self: AVOID THE GROCERY STORE ON THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING!!!!  You would think I’d remember that little detail.  I forgot the injectable marinade I wanted to put into the turkey, but you know what? Too bad. I’ll stick butter under the skin or something…I am so not going back out there.

So the good news is that I’m going to share said recipe with you. While you may not be able to use it this year, you might save it and try it at Christmas or even next year…

Mom’s Turkey Day Dressing

Ingredients:
1 loaf dry bread cubes, cut two days before (or the day before and placed in the oven on “warm” until dried);
1 small onion (diced)
2 or 3 stalks celery (diced)
1/2 stick butter/margarine
1 Tablespoon poultry seasoning
Turkey giblets & neck

Process:
Place bread cubes in a large mixing bowl.

Cook giblets, covered completely in water, until done, about 20 minutes. Chop and stir into the bread cubes.

Melt butter, cook celery and onion over medium-low heat until tender. Stir into the bowl of bread cubes. Add poultry seasoning.

Stir in broth from giblets, slowly, until stuffing is moist/wet, but not soggy. 

Transfer mix to a large baking dish (or two small ones) and place in oven with turkey about 45 minutes before the turkey is done. Cook, covered, 30 minutes, then lid off for the final 15 minutes.

Serve with gravy. YUMMMMM!

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So what do y’all think about Black Friday shopping starting so early tomorrow? I think it sucks for the employees. I do 99.9% of my holiday shopping online anymore, anyhow, so these seriously EARLY bird specials and door busters don’t really apply to me (never have, as I avoid retail outlets like the plague during the holidays), but I feel REALLY badly for the people that have to rearrange their family traditions so that they can go to work. As you know, I work at a hospital, and I know that people are going to be working tomorrow. It’s a fact of life that hospitals never close. Neither do police or fire departments. They really don’t have a choice, but retail outlets?

C’mon!  Have we, as a country, been reduced to such a level of commercialism and greed? I know it’s good to have a job, but the holiday season is hard enough on retail employees without taking away their last day of peace before the big C. *sigh*

Ok, I have to go flip the bird, if you will.

To all of my loyal readers, I wish you a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving.

Until next time…..