For years my mother made a "practise turkey" a couple of weeks before
Thanksgiving! After the first glorious meal of roast turkey (usually
served with wild rice), we made stock from the carcas and turned the
leftover turkey meat into turkey pies for the freezer -- wonderful to
have on hand in the winter, and nobody was tired of turkey when
Thanksgiving came. Between the "practise turkey" and turkey
pie-making, we would polish the silver and assemble the fine dishes so
Thanksgiving was not eclipsed by the practise bird!

Mary wrote:

> Between the "practise turkey" and turkey
> pie-making, we would polish the silver and assemble the fine dishes so
> Thanksgiving was not eclipsed by the practise bird!


The last few years we've also had a "pre" Thanksgiving with friends and
co-workers, usually the week before the "real" dinner with family. It's
been a big hit and it makes the rush of cooking less stressful, since
the first round is more casual and the second round comes after a week
of practice.

Washing all those gold rimmed plates by hand.... well I suppose that is
what good china is for.



Dawn