I was more careless (or less paranoid) when I was young. Maybe because almost everything we ate except flour or sugar we raised or grew, so from barn or field to table it was entirely under our control. But now I'm older and cooking meat I buy in a store. I have DH with health problems and there's been lots of illness in the older generation, so I've become very aware of the increased risk with compromised immune systems. It's made me pay more attention. I just figured it was time to develop better habits. You've got to break in that canner sometime! What a perfect opportunity. As far as coming home to frozen meat, ahem . . . if it's canned, no problem. OK, I've hit that enough. Usually at such times I go for ground beef and just cook it in the pan frozen, breaking it apart as it thaws. Then I use it for casserole, spaghetti sauce, etc. The time's about equal. I also keep minestrone, stuffed green peppers, spaghetti sauce, etc. in the freezer. They can be thawed while heating stovetop or while baking. Carol

Making some turkey pies for the freezer today. I use all the gravy, turkey, and some frozen vegetables, a few partially cooked diced potatoes and cut up carrots. Fill crust lined pie pans and cover with a crust. I like using the throw away aluminium foil "au Gratin' pans. These are a nice 'hearty' size and bake up in about an hour. Before filling each, I spread some margerine on the inside bottom crust to keep it from getting soggy when baking. They get put into Food Saver bags. Nice easy no mess meal for later on.

I must say - this was probably the most organized Thanksgiving turkey dinner I've cooked. Thank goodness. My oven behaved - probably because I took care to tuck in the wings this time - so that the dripping grease wouldn't drop down onto the burners causing a bit of a "flare-up" which My oven is prone to do if something boils over. Anyway, I cooked the bird as I usually do - upside down on the "X" shaped rack that has been a stand-by for such an event each turkey day. The bird is then slow cooked at 250 degrees - not basting until the skin hardens a bit. This seals in the juices, making the bird more moist. About half way through after the underside is nicely browned, I turn the bird over, to brown and cook the breast. When the breast reaches 180 degrees internally, we grab the carvers and that beautiful creation soon becomes a mess. Everything turned out quite well - expect perhaps for the marshmallows that were put on the sweet potato/pineapple dish - they refused to melt and perhaps the toasting oven was a bit too toasty. Ahem. So - now for making the pies. I liked my scheme last year - freezing the turkey, dressing and gravy in a pie pan shaped container. Then it is ready for use - either put in a pie shell - adding frozen peas, and top crust and baking. Or - just heating it up for another plain meal. Either way, lots of good left-over eating in store. As luck would have it - I had lots of volunteer help with clean up - and yours truly was ready for early retirement. Hope you had a nice holiday. Soooo - on to the next big bash - right. What are you planning on eating for X-mas - another turkey perhaps/or? Oh yes - about the dressing - it was a bit moist - will add less moisture next time, but tasty nevertheless. Some sage would have been nice tho. Just my 2 c's. Bejay

I find that the texture is poorly affected when you freeze pe-sliced meat. This is true of deli meat, and even of regular chicken from a home-roasted chicken. Freezing just seems to degrade the texture, at least to my tastebuds.