How to Roast Your Turkey

The family watched "How to Train Your Dragon" this past weekend so I thought it was an appropriate title. Do ya'll ever do something silly (like name a turkey roasting post after a movie?) and you just laugh and laugh at yourself?  Me?  Guilty. A. Lot. 

So the day before Thanksgiving I found a recipe online for some things to put in your bird's belly to make it heavenly.  Well since it was the day before T-Day and we had already done our shopping I had to use what I had. Which meant improvising.  A. Lot.  Yep, this recipe looks nothing like the original.  Hubby was impressed.  Did I mention that it's hard to impress him with a good turkey?  Yep.  It is.

This is the recipe that I came up with Thanksgiving MORNING!!  Eeeekk!


Clean the bird, pluck pin feathers, yada yada...all the boring stuff.
(Oh, don't forget to take out the bag with gizzards...it's really gross if you don't and it makes really good gravy so I hear.)

Chunk up (by chunk I mean chunk...nothing precise.  Not diced, not cubed...those are too small.  Not quartered either...those are too big.  Somewhere just right. (Did I remind you of a favorite bedtime story? Hmm..) ... where was I?  Anywho...chunk up an onion, a carrot, an apple.  Yes, an apple.  Really!  Throw those in a big bowl and sprinkle on some rosemary ("some" meaning about a teaspoon (I used the store bought...not fresh at all.  If you use fresh (fresh meaning home grown and dried -- I realize it's winter) use a lot less...like 1/2) then drizzle about 1/4 cup-ish lemon juice (I used the bottled kind.  Hey, I was working with what I had, remember?)   Place those in the cavity of Mr. (or Mrs.) Birdy.

For the outside of the bird melt some butter ...eh, 1/2 stick-ish? sprinkle on 1/4 tsp. sage, 1/8 tsp. thyme, and 1/4 tsp. rosemary (again...store shelf kind).  Rub that on the outside of the bird.  Roast however the package tells you.  They are pretty close when they say however many minutes for however many pounds.  Make sure you baste a few times at least.  I also roast mine breast side down.  Very juicy white meat that way.  I know it's not too pretty to look at but taste buds always trump our vision at our house so we do it that way. *wink*

Well that's about it.  I know...I'm either really early for next Thanksgiving or kinda late in sharing this advice with you, but I have been known to roast a Turkey for Christmas and I thought if anyone else was as odd eccentric like me they would want to know what I discovered.

Gobble Gobble!

Cinnamon Rolls

I usually make the bang-on-the-counter kind of cinnamon rolls.  Kendra at Preschoolers and Peace shared this from scratch recipe with me.  I made it for Thanksgiving morning.  How good was it?  Well let's just say my family won't let me make the bang-against-the-counter kind of rolls again.  Yes, they're that good!

Cinnamon Rolls
Dough:
1 T. dry yeast
1 C. warm milk
1/3 C. white sugar
1/2 C. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
4 C. flour
Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Knead into a ball. Let rise until double in size. When ready, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Spread with filling.

Filling:
1/4 C. butter, softened
1 C. brown sugar
3 T. cinnamon

Spread butter on dough evenly. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over dough evenly. Roll dough up. Slice roll into 1 inch slices. Place on a greased pan. Let rise again until doubled. bake 10 min. at 400 degrees.

Icing:
1/2 C. butter, softened
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 oz. cream cheese
2 T. whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Beat until fluffy. When rolls are hot, spread lots of icing on them.

If baking in the morning make the dough, let rise, then make the rolls.  Instead of letting them rise again, just wrap them up and put in the fridge.  The next morning put them in the oven while it's preheating.  When the oven is preheated start the timer.   Makes a 9x13 pan...about 16-18 scrumptious rolls!   

These are soooo delicious!   The best!  

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Praise the LORD.  Give thanks to the LORD, 

for he is good; his love endures forever."

Psalm 106:1

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

I am actually writing this post on Tuesday morning.  I'm trying to get all of my ducks in a row for this week of blogging so I can relax and not spazz out at midnight that I forgot a blog post for the next day and have to tip toe down stairs to type something up that you wouldn't want to read anyway because it's too incoherent and full of grammatical errors.  (When are my posts perfect, anyway? and that was quite the run-on sentence.)  Anywho... 

So I think for today (tomorrow) I'm just going to post a prayer (hymn) for you my friends.  Don't worry about the turkey being too dry, don't worry if the potatoes are too lumpy, or the pie crust too soggy.  Really.  Your family and friends will tell you the meal is amazing and they'll love you just the same.  Focus on this day, being thankful, being with family and friends, thanking our Creator for His goodness. 

We Gather Together

We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
Sing praises to his name: He forgets not his own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining his kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, wast at our side, All glory be thine!

We all do extol thee, thou leader triumphant,
And pray that thou still our defender wilt be.
Let thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Amen 

 --Traditional Thanksgiving Hymn
(A translation by Theodore Baker: 1851-1934)

Queen of the Castle: Week 48

 "Thanksgiving, Part 2" is today's title.  Lynn shares the following story..."One year in an attempt to make Thanksgiving more meaningful, we asked dinner guests to write on a piece of paper what they were most thankful for.  Later, sitting around the table, we read the slips aloud.  "One more year," read the shaky script of my husband's elderly grandmother."  Wow.  What a wonderful reminder to be thankful for all things!  "God has given us so many blessings.  All that we have is from Him.  One more year.  Blessed be the name of the Lord."



Lynn shares a few ideas to promote thankfulness:

*Find Bible verses that focus on praise and promises from Jesus.  Write the verses on small slips of paper, roll them into tiny scrolls, and insert them into homemade rolls before baking.  At Thanksgiving dinner, have each person break into the roll and read his "thankfulness fortune" out loud before the blessing. (From Meg Cox's The Heart of a Family: Searching America for New Traditions That Fulfill Us)

*Listen to a praise CD at breakfast.  A Classic Thanksgiving: Songs of Praise is a peaceful, uplifting CD that includes some wonderful hymns and classical pieces.

*Read aloud a favorite psalm before dinner.

*Go around the table and have each person share something they're thankful for using the letters T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G.

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"Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!  Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing.  Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.  Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.  For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."  Psalm 100:1-5

Queen of the Castle: Week 47

Like I said Monday, I am squeezing in three weeks of QOTC posts for your Thanksgiving benefit this week.  I'm nice like that.  *wink*

Week 47 is simply titled "Thanksgiving, Part 1".  (Part 2 will post tomorrow.) Lynn begins by sharing advice from Julia Child..."If you are not an old campaigner, do not plan more than one long or complicated recipe for a meal or you will wear yourself out and derive no pleasure from your efforts."  Great advice!  I posted my Thanksgiving menu plan HERE and it is definitely more simple than not.

Lynn shares a great reminder that "Thanksgiving is not a competition.  It's a time to gather with family we love and give thanks to our Father, who is the giver of all good gifts.  A Father who loves me no matter what -- even if I use store-bought pie crust."  (I don't use store-bought (I share my recipe HERE) but that doesn't mean you can't...whatever works for your family!  Remember I told you in the menu plan post that I'll probably make Pillsbury cinnamon rolls for breakfast?  That works for us...)

We're not hosting anyone in particular for Thanksgiving.  It'll be just my husband, my mom, our kiddos and myself.  Of course we always make room for any last minute guests.  We may have the kiddos' piano teacher over since he just lost his sister and I'm not sure he'll be going anywhere.  Be flexible...that's my point.  Either way get the china out a day or two before and make sure it's all clean and your serving bowls and relish trays are ready.  Our kiddos think it's fun that even though it's just the ten of us we still make it a special day.

Lynn shares three quick ideas to fancy up your table:

*Look for chocolate turkey lollipops or something else that's fun to place next to each person's silverware. 

*Hand your kids a packet of photograph "doubles", have them cut out the heads of the guests who are coming for dinner, then glue the heads onto cardboard to make holiday place cards.  If they're feeling especially silly (and if family members are silly enough to appreciate it), have them attach heads to bodies of people and animals cut from old magazines -- the wilder, the better. (From Sarah Ban Breathnach's Mrs. Sharp's Traditions)

*Try folding napkins.  Martha has three easy napkin folds HERE and a cute but more advanced turkey napkin fold HERE.  (We will be using fun paper ones that day, however.  I know my limits!  *smile*)

- - -

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 

giving thanks through Him to God the Father."  Colossians 3:17

Thanksgiving -- Menu Plan

picture from dailywordbuzz.com

I am not Martha Stewart nor do I pretend to be.  There...I said it.  Brace yourself for this post.

I enjoy making a nice meal for Thanksgiving Day but I'm not going to break my back on a meal that will not last longer than half time.  *wink*  So I make it easy on me and everyone else.  My little helpers and I decide the day before who's going to help me make each item.  I'd rather spend our time in the kitchen  making easy dishes so we can enjoy the day watching the parade, watching the Lions get beat play, playing our annual fumbleball football game (weather permitting),  playing board games, and just being thankful! 

The turkey...I buy a cheap turkey.  Last year W*lmart had some for under 40 cents a pound.  For real!  Hubby snagged a couple for me.  You know what?  They were delicious!  I'm hoping to snag a couple again this year.  Some years I'll roast it Thanksgiving morning some days I'll roast it the day before and then on Thanksgiving I'll place slices of meat in a crock pot with gravy over it.  It's so moist and tender.  I think I'll do that again this year.  (I'll have to put some slices in a small crock pot with broth since my mom is on a gluten free diet.) 

In the morning we have cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Sometimes I buy Pillsbury.  I like to make it easy.  I'm telling you..it's the best way!  I have an itch to make homemade this year.  We'll see.

After breakfast I get out the mixed nuts in the shell.  I put them in the nut dish that my mom has put nuts in since I can remember.  I'll put in a few nut crackers and the crowd will go wild.  They love to shell nuts.  I love it when they clean up after themselves.  *wink*

After the nut dish has been ransacked I'll pull out some cheese and crackers, also some olives and pickles.  We really like SECHLER'S PICKLES.  They are sooo yummy.  We especially like their apple cinnamon and the orange.  They are delicious!! 

So...on to the menu...

Roasted Turkey in gravy.  Nope, not home made gravy.  I love McCormick's gravy mixes or Campbell's canned gravy.  I don't do gravy well and I hate when it gels up...so unappetizing the next day.

We'll also have Smashed Potatoes, Baked Carrots, Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese, stuffing (I use Pepperidge Farm and follow the directions on the bag and put it in a crock pot).  I'll steam some green beans from our garden.  I may do green beans and bacon this year.  My mom also loves baked yams.  I'll post the recipe soon.  Thanksgiving isn't complete without Cherry Cinnamon Applesauce or cranberry sauce. 

We also have dinner rolls.  Nope, not home made, either.  Hubby really likes the brown and serve packaged.  I figure why waste the time making home made when he enjoys the easy stuff? 

Now...on to dessert.  Pies...lots of them.  This is where we go all out!  I have a few kiddos that love to help me make the pies the day before.  My pie crust recipe is HERE.  We'll make all homemade from scratch; cherry, blueberry, apple, and peach pies.  My pie filling recipe is HERE.  The Creamy Peach Pie recipe is HERE.  I also make Pumpkin Pie Squares HERE.  I'll also make a pan of brownies for the little ones who have an aversion to pie.  Why they do, I have no idea.  Pie is wonderful!  All those pies will last us for all that weekend and we'll be rolling into Monday in our elasticized waist pants. *wink*

There you have it.  That's our menu for this season in our lives.  We'll enjoy food the kiddos will eat and easy dishes to make so that we can enjoy each other's company.  I figure I'll have all the time in the world to spend time making dishes that Martha would approve of when they are grown up.  Then again...I'll have all sorts of grandbabies (Lord willing) that will want to help me make the meal so we may get even simpler by then! 

Thanksgiving -- Blessings

photo from thanksgiving4all.blogspot.com

To start off this week of Thanksgiving ideas I'd like to focus on the real reason we celebrate Thanksgiving.  Sure we all love turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Don't forget all the pie and whipped cream you can eat!  Plus a good side dose of parades and football.  But that's not what it's all about.  Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for everything the Lord has given us.  We need to be thankful all year long, but on this day we should really focus on what we have been given.  Whether it's faith, family, or friends we need to be thankful and make it known that we are thankful for them!

Something we like to do is print out little conversations starters on slips of paper and put them in a basket.  Go around the table having each person take a slip and share their answers.   Here are some ideas....


*Name a person you are thankful for.
*Name a food you are thankful for.
*Name a book you are thankful for.
*Name an item in the house you are thankful for.
*Name an event that you are thankful for.

You can also find some great websites that have extra activities for children.  HERE'S one I found. And ANOTHER one.

- - -

"What a grand world this would be if we could forget our troubles as 

easily as we forget our blessings." -- author unknown

Tomorrow...our Thanksgiving menu