Thanksgiving Prep--Running Out of Thyme

I decided that this year I would be very adult and prepare for Thanksgiving ahead of time. So, instead of discovering that only the extremely expensive organic butter is left on the shelves at Walmart two days before  Thanksgiving (and forget about evaporated milk, nuts, or anything else that you need for stuffing or sides) I shopped at least a week in advance and made lists.

The gravy is honestly my favorite item on the menu. It's only logical:

1. My gravy contains wine.

2. Gravy can be poured upon every other dish.

3. You can reheat it, adding more wine, and pretend it's soup as you eat it straight from the pot.

After a trip to the grocery store, I made a mental note that local turkeys could only be obtained if you made orders way in advance. However, I had presence of mind enough to visit one of my favorite wineries--Leo Grande in Good, VA--to buy their Chardonnay '06 which is rich with oakey flavors. It's perfect for cooking and, being a fan of dry whites, fantastic as an aperitif.

We love the proprietors. We talk about Woman's Day recipes and catch up on what we've been doing. If there is a better combination than pleasant people and beautiful scenery, I would like to know.

Our Rosemary turkey from last year was lovely and amazing, but Erik doesn't like rosemary so we were very happy to try the thyme recipes from this years Woman's Day. Included in November's edition was a bird recipe that enabled us to use all of our thyme for, not only the turkey, but also the biscuits and gravy.

I would like to bask in this moment of saying that I personally adore rosemary.

So, groceries--check. Wine for gravy--check.

Then I had the bright idea of making the biscuits the night before.

The only issue with this is that, this recipe is lacking. It needs buttermilk or some form of additional moisture. They are very dry. I had to sprinkle water on them on the big day.

But the butter was nice. I would like to experiment with both recipes. I am thinking less flour, more moisture, and butter molds.