That isn’t a mistake.  Yes, it’s time to think about Thanksgiving.  Even though  it is 9,000,000 degrees right now.  Halloween stuff was out at the end of June and I’ve already seen way too much for Christmas.  My poor little Thanksgiving always gets the shaft.  So I’m here to say… REMEMBER THANKSGIVING!!!  You can start to get ahead of the game right now.

Knowing I would be hosting out-of-town family this Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving 2023, for the last two years means I have been thinking about it for way too long.  But I love thinking about meal prep, it brings me great joy.

Do you guys know I had to take a ton of recipes out of my cookbook, Garlic & Olive Oil: Bringing family together with food?  It was too big; there were too many recipes.  So, I took all Thanksgiving recipes out with the intention of writing a second, smaller cookbook.  Guess what that one was going to be called?  Garlic & Olive Oil: Thanksgiving. I have a real flair for naming things.  You’ll never guess what my Teddy Bear’s name was.

Anyway, I don’t know if the Thanksgiving book is ever going to come to fruition.  Maybe I will just put all the recipes on here?  We shall see.  But when I was going to write it, there was a large section on preparation/timing.  The first prep item began in the summer.  It is to buy fresh herbs.

Go to Trader Joes right now.  Buy some Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.  Simon & Garfunkel really knew what they were talking about.  Where you live will depend on how these herbs last into the fall.  Only once have I still had parsley in November but with the heat we are having right now, I can’t imagine it will ever be cold.  I can dream about it, but I can’t feel it.  Here, in St. Louis, in the smack dab middle of the country, I always still have sage, rosemary and thyme come Thanksgiving.

So that is your first step.  Go buy some herbs.  You can also make some quick breads now and throw them in your freezer for Thanksgiving morning. Try Pumpkin Gingerbread or Pumpkin Cranberry, you won’t be sorry.  There is no cooking breakfast on Thanksgiving.  That is a rule written in stone.

In Other News…

The renovation is close to being complete.  I don’t want to jinx it… but it should be soon.  Everyone cross all your fingers and toes.  Because if it isn’t finished soon, I might not be around to host this Thanksgiving I’ve been excited about for two years.  And that would be sad.