Lameduck, Chickenhawk Bush, Pardons Turkey from Planck's Constant

President George W. Bush pardoning the Thanksgiving turkey Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008, in the Rose Garden of the White House.

White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian

Ok that gets in every fowl thing one can say about George Bush. Caption for the photo:

President George W. Bush stands between Paul Hill, left, of the National Turkey Federation, and his son, Nathan Hill during the pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008, in the Rose Garden of the White House. This year marked the 61st anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation and Pardoning.

You are probably wondering what happens to a pardoned turkey:

After the presentation, the turkey will be flown first class to Disneyland Resort in Southern California, where he will be the grand marshal of "Disney's Thanksgiving Day Parade." After the parade, guests will be able to visit the turkey in Frontierland section.

For more information behind the Turkey pardons visit the White House Website.

But what happens after that? Hmmm, come to think of it, have you ever had a smoked turkey drumstick at Disneyland?

For my own part, we will not be pardoning any birds in my home. Last night we started preparing for our Thanksgiving feast:

Brine the Turkey.

make the cranberry relish - I use no sugar, instead I puree 4 oranges (for every 12 oz of cranberries) which sweetens the tart just right. Simmer and stir for ten minutes. Put in fridge.

get the stuff for the broccoli and cauliflower souffle prepared so that everything is ready one hour before serving the turkey. Cut up the broccoli and cauliflower florets - put in a sealed bag; make the white sauce - put in container; separate egg yolks and whites - put in containers; grate the white American cheese - put in sealed bag. Thursday, one hour before your dinner starts, put everything into a casserole dish and bake for 50 minutes.

boil sweet potatoes and put pecans in a container for sweet potato casserole. Thursday, 45 minutes before dinner starts, mash the sweet potatoes and mix in eggs, vanilla, milk, butter and add pecan topping in a casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes.

bake two pans of lasagna. Thursday, 30 minutes before dinner - reheat the lasagna.

boil 16 eggs according to the perfect way to make hard-boiled eggs, make deviled eggs, put in deviled-egg dish, cover and put in fridge. Serve cold on Thursday.

Make apple pie from scratch. About an hour after dinner starts, put in oven and reheat for 20 minutes then let stand for another 20 before serving

If we leave all these things to do today there won't be enough time to also roast the turkey, make the mashed potatoes, cook the corn, carrots, zucchini, and mint peas.

There are eight of us living in the house and we expect an equal number of relatives. This will probably be one of the smallest gatherings we've had in awhile.

A Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers.