Turkey Day. Minus One.

Okey dokey. It's Wednesday. I woke up with two strange dogs staring at me. Mr. Hawthorne said he woke up this morning with a little dog in his bed whom he'd never seen before, but the dog totally respected his space and stayed at the opposite side of the bed, curled up on his pillow. That would be Dorie, Paul's dog. And there are 2 extra young men in my house, one sleeping on the floor, another on my couch.

So, let's get cooking. First up, cornbread, since I'm thinking about making a stuffing tomorrow involving cornbread.

First, I melted a glop of Crisco in a 9 x 13 pan.

Here are the ingredients for my cornbread: cornmeal baking powder salt milk egg corn

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder to 2 cups cornmeal.

And add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

2 cups milk go in.

Then the melted Crisco.

Add in one egg.

And finally the can of corn went in.

Pour the mixture into the prepared, Criscoed pan. And bake for about 55 minutes. Next up, my potato rolls.

Two russet potatoes and one sweet potato. Peel, slice, and boil the potatoes in salt water until very tender. Save 2 cups of the potato water.

My ingredients for the potato rolls: boiled potatoes 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup Crisco 2 cups potato water 2 packages yeast 3 tsp salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 2 eggs

Add the two packages yeast to the tepid potato water.

Add in 1/2 cup sugar. Stir to dissolve, and let proof.

Add Crisco to potatoes and mash.

Add in 1/4 cup sugar to the potato mixture.

After about 20 minutes, the yeast mixture is puffy and proofed.

Add the potato/Crisco mixture to the yeast mixture. Whisk.

Add in 3 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda.

Beat the 2 eggs, and add to the batter.

Now, start adding in flour, one cup at a time.

Until you get a dough of sorts.

Turn out onto a floured board and start kneading.

Because of the potatoes, this will not be a smooth, elastic dough, no matter how much you knead it. But go ahead and try it anyway. I did my usual trick with my bread dough. I nuked a wet towel for about 90 seconds, then covered the plastic-wrapped dough with the hot towel and placed in the microwave to rise.

After a few hours, here's my risen dough. Then, I stuck it in the fridge to let it sit until tomorrow, when I'll make the rolls. Finally, dessert for tomorrow. What else but Pumpkin Pie?

Now, this is the BEST pumpkin pie. I found the recipe in the food section of my newspaper the other day, and it said "The BEST Pumpkin Pie," so it must be. My ingredients: 1 can pumpkin puree 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs 1 egg yolk 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

I SandraLee'd the pie crust. I used one of those rolled-up Pillsbury crusts, since I didn't feel like making pie dough today. While the frozen Pillsbury dough was thawing, I mixed the pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small sauce pan.

Next, I ground up 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Then I grated 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger.

Here's my Pillsbury pie dough in my pan.

Next, I put a sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough, and poured in beans almost to the top of the pie pan, to weigh the dough down. Put the dough into a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350.

In the meantime, I added the freshly grated ginger and nutmeg to the pumpkin mixture, heated it over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes.

I transferred the pumpkin mixture to my food processor and pureed for about 10 seconds.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, pulsing after each addition.

Finally add in the cream, with the processor running, and puree until well mixed. About another 10 seconds.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the prepared crust.

The pumpkin pie is ready to go into the oven.

After one hour and then a few more minutes my pie is ready. The edges need to be puffed and the center set and just slightly jiggling. And I'm just about ready for Turkey Day.