Happy Thanksgiving Morning!

So...last night was a good thing, and now this morning is even better!

The stuffed turkey, which I put in the oven around 2 AM at 300 degrees instead of the 325 degrees called for, finished cooking at 10:30...at least the pop-up thermometer indicated it was cooked, so I pulled our instant-read thermometer probe from the pantry and checked--just under 180 degrees.  Since the package said to roast until 165 degrees, I shut off the oven, then, after putting hot pads down, moved the roaster pan to the marble slab.  Looks good enough to eat.

A few minutes later I checked the stuffing (that I had been worried about last night) and found that it tastes really quite yummy...though the texture might be a little slimy for some palates.  I have not compunction about eating some things that are a tad slimy, though I cannot think of any others at this moment...!  I think people who like stuffing will be able to stomach it.

As far as the other stuff, now at 10:47:  the smoked roasted sweet potatoes have been brought up to temperature so they were able to be whipped with butter, cream and freshly-ground black pepper and put in an oven-safe bowl for final heating at mealtime; the regular green bean casserole has been put in its casserole and is ready for its 30 minutes at 350 degrees; the from-scratch green bean casserole is in the refrigerator waiting for its 20 minutes in the oven;  the holiday scalloped potatoes are in the heavy red-enameled Dutch oven ready for their last 20 minutes on top of the stove to bring up to temperature (note to self:must be VERY WATCHFUL about that heat-up project!); the red potatoes have been washed, chopped, and put in the Dutch oven for cooking when the people arrive; ALL the dishes in the house are clean, though many of them are on the counter waiting to be dried and put away; and the table has been emptied (mostly) and dear one has washed the glass so it is shining and the house smells like turkey and clean.

Things that have not been done:  there is a smallish pile of my stuff at the end of the shiny clean table to be relocated and there is a good-sized pile of books and other important stuff on the swamp oak hope chest which sits behind the green couch in the runway between dining room and living room. I do need to take care of them, as well as the two loads of clean clothes that have just finished cycling through the machines.

Happy note!  Dear one told me our Mr. Cardinal is back in town!  He was on the ground eating sunflower seeds dropped by the chickadees, nuthatches, and a lovely gray crested bird whose name I must find in our bird book.  He is so beautiful.  Wait!  Mr. Cardinal is back!  This time he is on the feed on the porch! YAY!  I have such warm feelings for those cardinals.  Well, the chickadees, too, the phoebes, well...I love them all, though I am a bit less enamored of the loud scary bluejays, and further down the scale of bird love comes the red squirrels who rob the feeders and scare away the other birds...but as A says,  squirrels need to eat, too, so we have a truce.  Most of the time!

Have a happy day with family and friends.  We surely shall.