Exploring the Farm

Charlie

My little cousin Charlie has been such a great sport this week; he hasn't complained once when I've asked him to let me take a few photos.

Turkey Bird

I had so much fun making my turkey for Thanksgiving! Although the process was looong and tedious, I'd say it was worth it in the end. He was a pretty bird.

We began by cleaning the bird and removing all the giblets and gross bones. I have spared you pictures of this step, but here is the raw bird. He was a whopping 12 pounds.


After that, I set him aside to dry so that I could make an herb butter. I put this in the fridge to firm up a bit.


I then washed and chopped a few veggies - celery, carrots and onion - and placed them in the bottom of my disposable roasting pan, along with about 32 ounces of chicken stock. (They recommend placing your turkey on a RACK inside the roasting pan, so that the turkey doesn't sit in its own juices; however, if you don't have a rack you can make a bed of vegetables like this and that solves the problem.)


I also prepared my herbs and lemons, which I stuffed into the cavity of the bird right before roasting. (Sage, thyme and rosemary.)


I gave him a good massage with the herb butter; I placed a lot of it under the skin the rest I rubbed on top. Then I seasoned him generously with salt and pepper...


...and stuffed his little cavity with the herbs, lemons and leftover onions.


Next came the cooking part, which is the part that made me not want to do this again anytime soon. It wasn't difficult, per say, just tedious. The first hour was a breeze. Preheat to 325 and toss him in the oven for an hour. Easy. But after the first hour, my recipe required that I baste the turkey (or spoon its juices over the top) every 20 minutes. It doesn't seem like a difficult task, but 20 minutes goes by pretty fast; there's no time for a nap, a load of laundry, or a shower. And if you don't baste, your turkey will be dry and crackly. Yuck. I'm so glad my parents were keeping Mary Ella, because there'd be no chance of doing this having a toddler running around. And I'd recommend taking your shower and getting ready during the hour that he is cooking instead of just standing around. Your turkey is DONE when the internal temperature measures 165 degrees in the breast, and around 170-175 degrees in the thigh.

BUT... it was all worth it in the end. Because about 4 hours later, just in time for dinner, my bird looked like this:


He was so pretty on the plate. I almost cried when it was time to carve the little guy. See my fake smile? I was less than thrilled.


For anyone that wants to try this at home, I used this recipe because it had about 200+ reviews and everyone said it was easy and delicious. I must say I agree.

Oh yeah...

If any of you need help getting rid of your leftover dressing, I have just the trick. Her name is Mary Ella.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and enjoys spending time with family and friends. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the madness of making the food, catching all the football games, and losing sleep over Black Friday deals. But I hope we can all take the time to reflect on our blessings and the One who blesses us so richly with His love.

I am thankful for my husband, Mary Ella, the sweet heartbeat of my unborn child (which I was able to hear last week!), my family, my house, my job, my friends who are wonderful, my church and my pastor, my small group, my health, my country, and my freedom. But most of all for Jesus. Thank you God for these gifts!

Today I am in charge of the turkey bird. I've had this bird in my fridge for the past 2 days attempting to thaw his little wings out and finally had to put him in a water bath this morning so he'd unfreeze! He was being a little stubborn. I've never made a turkey before - never attempted anything like this - so here's hoping for a juicy, tender, golden brown and crispy-skinned turkey. Because if he's not juicy, tender, golden brown and crispy-skinned around 5pm, I'll be slightly panicked and my family will be without protein. And I'll go back and read the first 2 paragraphs of this post and remember that it's not the end of the world.

Happy Turkey Day!

My Christmas List

I don't really want or need anything for Christmas. I would be fine just getting together with family and eating and playing games all night. So this is just for fun. But if I knew that Santa would bring me anything I wanted, and that those in need would also be blessed equally, here is what I would ask for:

1. Bath & Body Works Oil Burner
I love these things! My best friend Katie bought me one a couple years ago as a hostess gift. I used it so much that it finally turned black so now I think I need a new one. You buy the burner and then buy any scented oil that you like. They all kinds of scents and usually special ones come out around the holidays. You add 20 drops of oil to the dish at the top and place a tea light candle in the bottom. It smells up your entire house in no time! My favorite scents - well, the only ones I've ever bought - were Midnight Pomegranate and Japanese Cherry Blossom - both are wonderful.


2. The Pioneer Woman Cookbook
I am a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman, aka Ree Drummond. For those that don't know her, Ree used to be a Los Angeles diva who wore stilettos every day and ate sushi every night. On a trip back to her hometown, she met and fell in love with a cowboy, a real life cowboy. They ended up getting married, and now this diva lives on a cattle ranch with her husband, dogs, a bazillion cows, tons of horses, and her 4 kids. She started a blog to document her life on the ranch, which has in turn become one of the most popular blogs on the world wide web. She cooks, takes pictures, gardens, and documents every minute. She is HILARIOUS. And now she has a cookbook! And I want a copy.


3. Janome Sewing Machine
I don't need this, but like I said, this is my fun wish list. I would just like to have a machine that is a little "smarter" than the $99 Singer that currently sits in my sewing room. Nothing fancy, and I really don't care about having an embroidery machine or anything, just a sewing machine that runs a little smoother and that has the digital screen and more stitches to choose from.


4. A tropical beach vacation
Any location will be fine, Santa. All I need is the sun, some sand, and a comfy chair to sit in.

Getting Ready

We're gearing up for the holidays. Love the cool weather because we get to wear cool hats.



Tonight I helped Mary Ella decorate her Christmas trees. She would say "Pitty!" (pretty) over and over and kiss each ornament.




Last night I set up Mary Ella's nativity set. Tonight I noticed that apparently the Chic-Fil-A cow was also present at Jesus' birth. He was meticulously placed laying down beside Jesus' manger. I tried to tell Mary Ella that a cow would not be needed; that the whole purpose of Jesus coming was that he alone would be the ultimate sacrifice, that no cow or lamb or ram would be necessary, but she just wouldn't have it. I did convince her that he would get a better view of the baby if he were standing by the shepherd. She conceded, and thus, this year's nativity:

Facelift

Do you love it? I do.

Hilary Keegan, of ScrapBlog Designs by Hilary, gave my boring blahhg a makeover; more like a total overhaul. I am in awe of people that have the ability to do things like this. I wish I had the talent and the vision to create little labels, cute fonts, and colorful, lively header images. She did a fantastic job and I love every inch of it!

Thanks, Hilary!
(Her button is at the bottom, which links directly to her site!)