A Few Of My Favorite Things Part Three

Happy Thanksgiving! May all who are celebrating this holiday have a relaxing, enjoyable weekend!

It seems the apple does not fall far from the tree. Falling under the "do as I say, not as I do," category, we started defrosting our turkey a little too late. Granted, it only weighs in at seven pounds, but we should have taken it out of the bag and removed the giblets yesterday, as our bird is still a bit frosty today.



No matter. Chef Jeff has just ditched me. Having seen several deer out in the pasture, he donned his blaze orange and is currently doing the hunter-gatherer-manly-man thing. The turkey will probably have ample time to defrost before he returns at dusk.



I have wanted to make the recipe in the pic below, from Spirit Of The Harvest, for years, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I'm thinking I'll adapt the ingredients for a side-dish for our turkey dinner supper midnight after-hunting snack. Doesn't this just look awesome? Wish I had an extra pumpkin sitting around...



So, finding myself abandoned, and having exercised and fed the dogs (who are now napping by the fire), I have a moment to share some more favorites with you!

Michelle and I went to the cupcake shop yesterday only to find it closed. How disappointed we were. But I've found the solution - check out Bake It Pretty for fun cupcake kits! Michelle, now we can make them ourselves (or have your lovely daughter, the baker, do it!)

Here is an easy project that would make a nice gift, full of my favorite scents: a holiday potpourri made of dried oranges or lemons, star anise, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, and juniper berries.



I think it looks so nice on our Thanksgiving table.



Molly is not supposed to be gnawing on the firewood... See what happens when I'm distracted for even an instant?



Something that will appear on that table later is my favorite salad: romaine lettuce, Castle Rock blue cheese (you won't be able to find that as it's from the organic dairy down the road from us, so try Maytag instead), toasted pecans or walnuts, and Stonewall Kitchen's fabulous Balsamic Fig Dressing. It is amazing. So is their Orange Cranberry Marmalade (better than their Holiday Jam for sure).

Stonewall Kitchen usually sends extra samples of other goodies when we do a stock-up order; you can save 20% Friday through Sunday using the code Q01516R8 at checkout. Sometimes their site gets bogged down during a sale - try again if you get an error message.

I can tell you from experience that they box things very well, and even wrap gifts beautifully for a small fee. A package from Stonewall Kitchen is one that will go over well (even with your in-laws!)

Here is another place with gift baskets. We are having their wonderful wood-parched wild rice with our Turkey tonight - definitely one of my favorites. It is so different from any grocery store wild rice I've ever eaten, and a thousand times more flavorful. It also cooks up much faster, which I assume is from the parching.

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I'm thankful for...

This view of the goats' barn and winter paddock, from my bedroom window:



This thoughtful gift that I received - sock yarn that is dyed with intention, in the colors of the Tibetan flag, and which includes the maker's mindfulness and compassion for all sentient beings. It's made by PippiKneeSocks, whose shop/blog I am unable to find - maybe you will have more luck. I'm thinking we've gotta keep this gal in business.



Or maybe this yarn will inspire you to create a mindful gift yourself. Check out Tara Jon Manning's Mindful Knitting for more on that subject.

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I'm listening to...



Because I am thankful for you visiting me here, I have an extra copy of this CD to give away to someone who can tell me, "What's wrong with this picture?" in my comments:

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Well, there's cooking to be done, and I'm wearing the chef's hat today. As the saying goes, I love to cook with wine; sometimes I even put it in the food!



Have a great weekend!

A Few Of My Favorite Things Part Two

My fellow Americans - is your turkey defrosting by now? My favorite, no-fail way to cook a turkey is thus:

Take your bird out of the fridge a few hours ahead of time, and bring it to room temperature. Rub it all over with butter. Stick a tiny amount of chopped onion, celery, and carrots in the cavity, along with salt and pepper and any other seasonings, and put a cheesecloth soaked in melted butter over the breast. Put the turkey a rack in a pan large enough so that air can circulate around it. Place more celery, carrots, and onions (diced - you can eventually grind them up for the gravy) around the turkey in the pan, with more butter.

I preheat my oven to 425° and then turn it down to 325-350° immediately after putting in the bird. I baste the turkey every 20 minutes (including the cheesecloth). I allow 20 minutes per pound but it usually is done sooner. Cooking this way, the bird comes out perfectly brown, every time.

Make sure you cover the bird with foil after taking it out of the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before cutting off even one piece! This makes it really juicy.

I make my stuffing separately, using purchased organic chicken stock (not broth) for the liquid. I put in fire-roasted chestnuts... preparing them keeps Chef Jeff busy with something and out of the kitchen while I get the bird going.

My mother never could cook a turkey in the allotted time frame, and Thanksgiving dinner invariably got pushed back from noon to about 4 p.m., by which time the side dishes were spoiled, and we were all crabby from starvation and not being allowed to "spoil our appetites" with a snack. The reasons for her turkey ineptitude were that she a) stuffed the turkey with dressing until it was fit to burst (and no air could circulate inside), and b) she cooked it right after taking it out of the fridge. I also think she may not have started thawing it until the day before Thanksgiving, so it was still partially frozen.

This year, we are having a heritage, rare breed turkey from Coon Creek Family Farm. We purchased two and I'm not sure what Chef Jeff has defrosting - it is either a Narragansett or a Bourbon Red. We had one of their birds last year and it was awesome! It had so much more flavor than a plain "homogenized" turkey - just like our own heritage breed Golden-Laced Wyandotte chickens taste better than "plain vanilla" birds from the store. It is amazing what was sacrificed when people decided to breed "improved" livestock for consumption - namely, flavor! Not to mention the fact that the "improved" breeds can't even reproduce naturally. Heritage breed poultry are so much more healthy, and able to forage on their own, and really thrive without human management. Give me a natural bird every time.

There are instructions for brining a turkey at the Coon Creek site, also, if you'd like to try that method.

I know our turkey spent the summer sunbathing in a low-stress, natural environment; ate healthy, organic food and grazed on a beautiful pasture; was treated respectfully and allowed to have a full life; did not have to receive antibiotics and chemicals to keep it healthy (as it wasn't raised in a compressed, confined area full of filth); and - most importantly to me - was processed humanely (the same butcher processes our own chickens for us), and purchasing it supports a small, organic, family-run farm. I know it is safe to bring this meat to room temperature before cooking because of how it lived and how it was processed. In short, if I was a turkey destined to be a Thanksgiving meal, I would want to live my life on the Coon Creek Family Farm!

Julie at Coon Creek sells some of my favorite goatsmilk soap - and she boxes it beautifully for gift-giving. Ask her about the soap with the skein of yarn imprinted on the top for your YarnArtist friends! Pop her an e-mail - she'll be glad to help you out.

One thing I am particularly grateful for this Thanksgiving is receiving an invitation to a family's holiday meal. For people to open their hearts and home to us, to think of including us, is something I will definitely be giving thanks for on Thursday.

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In the past, Chef Jeff and I have made homemade liqueur to give at the holidays. It went over very well. Jayne has a recipe for Van der Hum tangerine liqueur on her blog and I think we may try it this year - perhaps with clementines?

If you see clementines in your grocery store, you must try them. Don't buy them after December, though - they will have lost much of their flavor. They are so easy to peel, and so sweet - the perfect winter afternoon snack! Another favorite at this time of year.

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I will try to post another recipe for giving tomorrow, but must dash now - the farrier is on his way to attend to one of Tikki's toes.

Have a great day!