Gobble, Gobble, Gobble...

I am not the Queen of cooking Turkey, but I do love to eat it. And my Man's Boss gave him one for Thanksgiving which is a really really nice gift. This one is a 20 pounder! Isn't she pretty all wrapped up like this? I can handle this part.

I can even manage to get it thawed out... however between the time it thaws, and the time it goes in the oven... That is the hardest part for me.

No pictures please, my attention must be on figuring out which end they put that baggie stuff, and then carefully with the tongs pulling out that gross useless goober they call the neck, rinsing it down, tweezing out those gross hair things they always miss getting some pulled out, and flopping all that dead weight into a pan.

You've seen the commercial of the lady wrestling with the turkey and it flips and flops, the dead weight nearly taking her down, and eventually slips through her hands onto the floor with a resounding thump... well that is me, minus all the touching of the turkey I guess I have to add.... that would be me with 3 sets of tongs.

This year, I decided to try Pioneer Woman's Recipe and brine her.

I told you no pictures of raw turkey meat... that is not a memory I want to hold on to. But here she is in her brine juice (I made up my own version of spices... hope it works), in a bag, in a bucket, in the cooler. Yea, I have trust issues with 2 and a half gallons of brine juice in a bag with raw turkey meat.

In the process of learning this new recipe, I took pieces of all the advice of everyone I talked to this week about cooking a turkey. Just because of my lack of experience in this area. And a really good tip was to cook the turkey upside down in the oven and all the juices will flow into the white meat and keep it really moist. So after a few flips and flops and running back and forth to the Internet to determine which side was the top and which side was the bottom... I flipped a coin, and I think I got it right. It worked well for me, but this method tends to pull the meat down off the bone more, so if you want to present your turkey on a platter, on the table and carve it up to your guests... this might not be the tip for you. So here she is out of the oven... isn't she a beauty?

After my next least favorite thing... pulling the cooked meat off the bones and making sure there are no "golly wobbles" left on the meat, and precisely separating the white and dark meat so they don't touch (I love my Man, but he is very picky about his meat) we ended up with allot of Turkey. Sometime today when the boys come home from their hunting and football games, we will have a mini feast and be GrateFULL!

Thanksgiving Memories...

Two J's and his Uncle Ralph cutting into the pies at Thanksgiving!

I would love to create memories for and with my son to hold on to for when life changes and traditions are harder to keep, or if he is ever away and homesick, he can reflect back on and warm his heart with them.

I have some wonderful Thanksgiving Memories. And that is exactly what they do for me.

Of course the favorite traditional foods Mom cooked for us is on the top of my memories... we always had

• ham and turkey
• sweet potato pies (note: note pumpkin... we are Southerners remember!)


• congealed salad (I don't even know what this is, but it's green jiggles like jello, but doesn't look like jello, and is really good)


• sage dressing (it's really firm and cut into squares and you pick it up with your hands... unless it's smothered in gravy)


• Gravy


• Rice (we always had rice instead of potatoes... it must be a southern thing?)


• Macaroni Pie (it's not really pie)


• Congo Squares


• Rolls


• Mom's green beans (they are just green beans, but she puts them in the crock pot the night before and they are juicy, not squeaky, if that makes sense)

And my favorite Thanksgiving story is when we lived in Burien in the big brick house on Des Moines Way. My Dad worked for the Gunters dispatching trucks, and at the shop lived a wild cat. My Dad was not fond of cats, and always gave me a hard time for feeding the cat when I would go down to his work. But I always had the support of Mama Moody who was a real cat lover. She named the cat inky, because she was a calico and looked like she had been spilled with black ink. I loved this cat, and earned her trust over a very long period of time, but she was still not as tame as an ordinary house cat.


It was the week of Thanksgiving and Mama Moody was staying with us for the holiday. My Dad came home from work with Inky the cat in his truck... it was quite a story of the cat running from the seat of the truck across the dash, and back under the seat... all very quick and frantically... the entire drive home. But needless to say it was one of the very best gifts he has ever given me.

The funny part of the story is that the night before Thanksgiving my Mom made her sweet potato pies and left them out on the counter to cool... seems like there were 3 or 4 of them. And we woke up Thanksgiving morning to the cutest most perfect little kitty paw prints across ALL of the pies.

Mama Moody advised us to just cut that piece of each pie out and never let me Dad hear a word about it. So if I remember correctly, we did just that! And to this day, I don't think he knows this story.

I am so grateful to my parents for the memories and love I felt growing up, that helps me through my little selfish snits I get into as an adult. It helps me to be a better parent and a better wife and I am so thankful for their examples to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

SPT ~ Self Portrait Tuesday

Today I am thankFULL for

• The Gospel in my life
• My Eternal Companion
• My Son
• My little shadow (Morgan who literally runs into the back of my legs if I stop too fast)
• Unconditional Love
• Quiet Moments
• Falling Snow
• Family

I found Lellys Blog and she does a challenge each Tuesday called SPT (Self Portrait Tuesday)... I have been lurking around and reading more about it. And while I am not sure I completely grasp the entire concept... I figured I would give it a try. I think you post a self portrait and blog about the topic of the week, and do it on Tuesday.

The challenge this week is called "me and my shadow"... the challenge this week is to find a quiet moment. give thanks for all that you have been given, all that you have given in this past year. take advantage of a pocket of an afternoon when you can slip away and be thank-full. we can all make time for this very important date with ourselves, with only our shadow along for company.



I managed to get a self portrait... but I haven't managed to get the quiet time all by myself long enough to clear my mind to gather my thoughts on all that I am ThankFULL for. I will make sure I do that this week... it might be a good time on Thanksgiving morning when my boys run off and desert me, and instead of sulking, I will use the time more wisely!

Balance Update...

My Mother asked for an update on the "Balance" in my life...




as you may recall there were a few things falling off of my proverbial "plate" including getting around to supplying water to the thirsting plants living (kind of) in my house.



I am happy to report, Mom... the plant is going to survive....


I managed to get water to it before it totally croked, and it perked up the same day...
only a few leaves shorter than when it started. Thanks for your encouragement!

I just tell it, that those trials it suffers, helps to build it's character.

First Flake of the Year...

You know what these mean?

Yep, I peaked outside this morning and IT'S SNOWING!!!

Not enough for the day off school, and not enough to reach the doornob and keep us inside from work. But I am ready for that! I love the snow!!
LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!!!!!


(Don't worry I am not off the deep end. I am living in reality and I know what ever dusting we got at 6am will be melted by 9am... but a girl can have hopes and dreams right?)

The Hunter...

I didn't have a chance to post pictures of the hunting trip on Friday....

Yeah, those are really sharp killer arrows honey....

He made a big huge deal about taking the camera to get a picture of his trophy this trip... but this was the only shot he got off!

I am okay with him going out... he seems to really enjoy it. But when he got home, he started working on me to go out on Thanksgiving Day. Now we didn't have any plans, we are going to be home. But as a Mother would I was already preparing to make it a special day. I didn't want to be the bad guy, so I told him he would have to make that decision, and I even through in the ol' - "what ever you decide is more important to you" guilt line.

Well that was a mistake... he is now going hunting on Thursday. And on that note, 2J's tells me he is going to go play in the big church football game on Thursday too. So in a flash of the eye, a holiday that should be full of family and Gratitude... I will be home alone... Boys... sheesh!