Apple pie, sugarless: check.
Apple pie, regular: check.
Blueberry pie: check.
Pecan pie: check.
Cherry pie, sugarless: check.
Huge pan of fudge: check.
Three pans of persimmon pudding: check.
160 yeast rolls: check (I gave most of them away, but we’ve got three dozen for tomorrow!)

And now the oven will be free for the turkey in a few hours.

While that 19-pound bird is roasting, there will be considerable action on TOP of the stove. Green beans, noodles & cheese, mashed potatoes, gravy, and whatever my sisters and mother bring that might need some fire applied to it.

Let the annual Lard-n-Starch Reunion begin!

I’d like to tell you that all the spilled and burned blueberry juice from earlier this afternoon has been all cleaned up, but I can’t do that because it’s still there: charred but still fragrant. I’d like to tell you that I’ll get it cleaned up before tomorrow night, but I can’t do that, either.

Um, the spilled and burned blueberry juice from LAST year is still noticeable on the oven floor. Add to it all the spilled and burned pecan pie filling and a little bit of scorched cherry juice, and nobody would ever believe I haven’t used my oven all summer.

Well, it was HOT.