Thanksgiving 2011-Yuma, Arizona

It really is remarkable how you can make a full-fledge turkey dinner in an RV using only one tiny 14” wide oven and 36” of counter space (not counting the top of the stove with the top down), but we did it. But all the dining table has to hold all the various serving dishes we will use.

I thought I’d be smart and make up the pumpkin pie filling the night before to save time…wrong! The whole timing thing with the pie will be off using ice cold pie filling, so I had to heat it first…wrong!  Then it began to cook and thicken and blopped (is that even a word?) into the pie filling.  Now my pie crust is usually wonderfully flaking and tender…wrong! This time, just for kicks, I added 2 tablespoons of butter instead of using lard only (yes, I use lard in my pie crust) thinking it would add a little something (what I don’t know but Martha Stewart does it).  That pie crust was like cardboard, like plywood, like, like….well it was uneatable that’s what it was LOL !!!  The filling was great though.

 

Here’s Jim mixing enough dressing for a 25 pound turkey….ah, we have only a 12 pounder, Jim!

 

Next came time for the turkey to go into the oven…looks huge doesn’t it, but remember our oven is only 15 inches wide!

Go in raw

comes out cooked

There were five of us eating at our round table for dinner (the Mosmans and Marty) and we had it all turkey, stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, perfect gravy, candied yams, Christine’s Modified Green Bean Casserole (with fresh green beans, asparagus, mushrooms, mushroom soup topped with bacon and cheese), and, of course, cranberry sauce and rolls.

The Mossmans also roasted a turkey so they could have leftover white meat for sandwiches.  They gave their turkey dark meat to Marty, boy was he happy!

We ate sandwiches that night, the next day for lunch and dinner, plus nibbling during the day…especially Jim with the stuffing!  So we have pretty much finished it off.  It sure was good, so we may just go ahead and have a rerun for Christmas.
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Friday after Thanksgiving was Jim’s birthday. As one of our friend’s-remarked on facebook “welcome to check-of-the-month club” as he will now get a social security check.  Jim is one of those people who doesn’t make a big deal about birthdays…unlike me.  So he really didn’t want to do anything special…too windy to barbecue anyway.  So we went across the border to Algodones and he had shrimp tacos for his birthday meal!  We walked around…same-o same-o.  Tried to find a stain glass window for our door, but couldn’t find anything with mountains in it.  We did buy a couple of bottles of Presidente Brandy for me though, and since I can’t have but one hard liquor drink a week, those should last me a long time.

We are enjoying our time out here in the desert outside of Yuma - actually in southern California. It has been windy, but the temperature has been in the high 70’s and nights are in the high 50’s….perfect for sleeping with the windows opened.

Remember, you are loved.