Sunday's Plate

This week we are having a turkey dinner on Wednesday as a practice run for Thursday. For anyone who has never baked a bird, here's a little advice.

Baking a chicken, turkey, duck or any bird is about the easiest thing since making tea. What you have to remember is to bake it at the right temperature - 350 degrees - for the right amount of time.

Wash your bird - don't use soap. Clean out all the packing from inside. I'm not a "guts" person, so I throw mine away or give it to a cat.

Stuffing is just bread. You can buy the packaged stuff or make it yourself. I use about a loaf of bread and toast the whole loaf laid out on the middle rung of a 350 degree oven. I use whole wheat bread because I think it tastes better. Once it's toasted, I cut the bread slices into pieces about the size of a postage stamp. I cut celery, onion, and apples and melt half a stick of butter in a pan with a tablespoon of chicken bouillon and a cup of water. At this point, you can add your other additions. I've seen just about everything go into the pot, but my favorite is bacon and walnuts.

Using a teaspoon or more of sage, a teaspoon or more of salt, the butter water mix, the veggies, and the bread pieces toss it all together and stuff in two bird cavities. Don't push or your bird will explode ;-}

Take a handful of cooking oil and rub down stuffed bird. Bake bird by the directions on the label. You should probably make a foil tent for cooking. This foil should not touch your bird

It's really that simple. Don't forget to empty bird after baking because stuffing can really foul a fowl [;-}

When your bird is ready, transfer him to a plate and what is left in the pan is gravy makings. The easiest thing to use is a gravy making pitcher that separates the fat from the good stuff. You can spoon off the clear fat or even use ice cubes to catch the fat to discard it. It will never blend into your gravy, and it's unsightly on the table. Once your drippings are fat free, you can add a little cornstarch - 1/4 cup to 1/4 cup water right to the pan, and before your gravy boils, add the cornstarch and water and stir vigorously while you bring the drippings to a boil. Once it's thick, it's done. Might taste for salt.

Cranberry sauce: My family likes the jelly stuff in the can, but I like a more robust cranberry relish. I use a cup of whole cranberries and a whole orange. I grind them together in my food processor and add about a tablespoon of sugar. This is very pungent, but it's wonderful on just about anything. There is no cooking on this one.

Cooked cranberry sauce is two cups of cranberries, a cup of water, two cups of sugar and boil for about eight minutes and remove from heat. At this point, you can add cinnamon, nuts, orange, or anything that sounds good to you. Raisins might be fun [;-}

Happy Thanksgiving!