I got our 20 lb. turkey out of the freezer today. It's my first step toward our upcoming Thanksgiving feast.

A couple of years after S and I married, my mom passed the baton to me to bake the turkey for Thanksgiving Day. The next year we started hosting the family dinner - which we love. (S's immediate family lives out of state so the day is spent with my family and our friends.)

Now back to the turkey. I have read the directions and they say to let the turkey thaw in the fridge for a few days prior to cooking. I do that. Unfortunately, I usually remember on Wednesday and it's never thawed all the way. If it's not thawed then you can't remove those little extras in the inner cavities prior to cooking. It's really not a big deal to me. I just remove it when the bird comes out of the oven all nicely tender and brown.

I have always done it without anyone being the wiser.

My husband has issues with meat on the bone and organ meat. It totally grosses him out. Imagine his face when he gets the turkey all nicely sliced and beautifully laid out on the platter and he notices a neckbone and the bag of organ meat still inside! Ooops! There was that one year I forgot to take care of that.

Being the good wife I am, this year I remember the turkey on Monday, today. He is safely in a pan in the fridge, thawing, I hope. I will definitely win some brownie points with my hubby if he's cooked "empty" this year.