Thanksgiving dinner Part 1

I made everything from scratch, hoping to keep my costs down and feed a bunch of empty bellies.

Last night I did the prep work for the stuffing/dressing. I browned a 1/2 pound of pork sausage, added one large onion, four stalks of celery, my last two cloves of garlic, some thyme, and sage until cooked through. (put the peelings aside for now). I added two cups of chicken stock, and one bag of Pepperidge farm herb seasoning. My daughter helped me with this prep work and she did a fabulous job. Place in fridge overnight.

I washed out our turkey this morning and found a gravy packet (when did they start that?) Put the gravy packet in the fridge after you wash the turkey guts off it. I put the turkey in the oven after wiping it down with a little real butter. Can you say YUMMMMMM??!! The turkey sits in the oven for four hours (a little over 11 pounds) stuffed (yes we stuff it, and have some more on the side not in the bird). Prior to stuffing the bird, I took out the innards (neck, giblet) and placed them on the stove top, simmering in a pan with those veggie peelings that we are not throwing away (FREE STOCK FOLKS!!!!!). The stock will simmer for a few hours, stirred at times, and when it's done, it will be strained and placed in the fridge to cool.