kimberly

Rum, I was never a turkey person either until I tried this recipe. Mom always had to make sure she cooked a ham so I would have meat to eat at the holidays. This recipe really does change the flavor and texture of the turkey.

For a moist turkey, especially if you just cook the breast:

1 gallon of water

1 cup of kosher salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

Mix until salt and sugar are dissolved in the gallon of water and vinegar.

Add to a container that will hold mixture and turkey. Turkey should be covered by liquid mixture.

Soak for 24 hours. If container will not fit in refrigerator then add bags of ice or freeze packs.

After 24 hours remove the bird and place in roasting pan. Add enough chicken stock so that there is about 2 inches of liquid in pan.

Cook according to size of bird.

My turkeys are brined in a Coleman cooler. I save ice in freezer bags and add to cooler.

Roasting pan must be completely sealed when cooking turkey.

I never liked or could eat turkey white meat until I learned this method. It is the most moist and flavorful you will ever put in your mouth.

And, yes, don't forget to wash and sanitize that cooler if that is what you use.

We don't have gophers but the squirrels will do that. They think they own the pecan trees, too!!!

It is strange, herbiejuan, why anybody would destroy that history. Thankfully, you were there.

Leafy, the rain has been so abundant I can not get out in the yard much less the garden. We even had a tornado just down the road earlier today. A tornado in December!?!?!! Quite a stormy day.

Black and white newspaper, leaves, newspaper and more leaves. That is how to kill the weeds in the garden. Of course, some of the weed seeds just plant themselves on top of that mixture. But just kill them with more layers before they seed.

The Knock Out Rose I received for Mothers Day is flourishing. Beautiful pink flowers. Yesterday it was 29 degrees at 6am and 49 degrees in NYC. Go figure. I look out the kitchen window and those roses were vibrant.

Time to cut the collards since we have had a frost. Yum, yum, yummy.

Baby chicks, lambs and piglets....about the cutest and most precious there is.

Congratulations!!! A project after my own heart.

Yesterday, there was a scraggly turkey carcass in the fridge. Not anymore. Yours truly picked that bird clean and put meat in the freezer. No turkey sandwiches, pot pies, soup, dumplins....nothin. Informed my family I am on strike. I came home from work and the sink was full of dirty dishes. A few days of having to fend for themselves will put them back on the right track.

I also thought putting catsup in the fridge to be unusual. I don't put mustard, steak sauce, worcestershire in the fridge, either. Even after being opened, anything with a high vinegar content has a pretty good shelf life as long as it is stored in a cool, dark place.

Happy Birthday, Rocky!! Have the best day ever!

Where the heck have you been?

Kimberly

Not here on this site, but I am just about sick and tired of hearing folks rant it is their freedom to do this, freedom to do that, say this, say that....some folks want to justify their actions and whatever comes out of their mouth by claiming freedom. Yet, they forget about responsibility. To little ole me freedom and responsibilty go hand in hand. I dare say responsibility comes first.

I also think duty is underrated and seems to be forgotten by many.

George, you could slice that turkey and freeze it in parts. That way you could eat from it for a while...sandwiches, pot pie, soup, etc.

Abigail, what a caring and loving person you are. Your family is blessed to have you.

Happy Birthday Ron G. Happy of all happies to you!

Received notice from Jack Leggett Baseball about winter weekend camp for highschoolers. $275.00 for Friday night meeting, Saturday and Sunday practice and skills training. No accomodations, no transportation to and from, no meals provided. I said heck no.

Since varsity football season was less than stellar, they now have to be in gym and dressed by 6:30 am twice a week for agility training. He has weight training last period and baseball practice started last week. Right now, all they are doing is running. I told him he would not have to worry about that little pudge he gets in late winter. He told me the other week his last 2 years of highschool baseball really have to count.

I think he has enough to do already in order to keep up his grades. He knows mama will snatch his butt out of something if the grades aren't there.

Deep fried turkey has become real popular.

My Matty informs me he saw a partially frozen turkey put into the deep fryer and within a moment the fryer literally blew up and the turkey shot straight up in the air along with the hot oil. Luckily, nobody was hurt. Not even the turkey. They washed it off and decided to put it in the oven.

The instructions that accompany the deep fryer makes a specific point in bold red letters to NOT put a frozen or half frozen turkey in it. Turkey MUST be fully thawed. Tsk tsk, men and directions!!!

Rum, you are having Etouffee...and your address is.?.?....

Waysider, to me, pesto is like bacon...everything tastes good with it.

Hey, what you guys cooking/eating for Thanksgiving dinner?

The big fat hen is cooked as well as the giblets. The pecan and apple pies are made. Dressing is prepped and ready for the oven. All I have to do tomorrow morn is make the mac and cheese pie, giblet gravy and cranberry relish. There will be greenbeans and butterbeans from the garden. This is the first Thanksgiving meal I can remember not having collards. There has yet to be a frost. Frost makes the collards sweeter.

My dressing recipe is from my yankee mom. We don't make cornbread dressing as most southerners do. It is made from white and wheat bread.

The bread slices (2 loaves of white and 1/2 loaf whole wheat) are placed on the oven racks and dried with the temp on warm.

Remove from oven when dried. Allow to cool.

Crumble slices with your hands. The pieces should be small.

In 2 sticks of butter, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 2 cups of chicken stock cook 3 stalks of celery small-chopped and one large onion small-chopped.

When celery and onion is al dente add a dozen minced sage leaves. Simmer 2 minutes longer.

Add this to bread. Mix very well so all bread is coated with butter etc. Then add 6 medium-chopped boiled eggs and 2 cups of small-chopped giblets. We prefer just the chicken gizzards, though some like to add the livers, also.

Add milk to make mixture wet, not mushy. Mix together so all milk is soaked into bread. When mixture is squeezed in hand it should hold together somewhat and no milk squishing through fingers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix very well. Let sit for half an hour then taste again. Adjust with seasonings. Maybe need to add some dry sage? We like to be able to taste the hint of sage.

To this add 3 or 4 raw beaten eggs. Note: This is why you salt and pepper and adjust seasonings to taste before this stage. Now this mixture should hold together real well when lightly squeezed in your hand. It should be quite moist and realitively squishy. You DO NOT want a dry mixture.

Place in baking dish that is no more than 3 inches in height. Bake, covered, 325 for 45 minutes. Or remove before dressing becomes hard. It should still be lightly squishy to the touch when removed from the oven as it will cook for a little longer in the dish when removed from the oven.

This dressing is literally cut into squares. And served with giblet gravy on top. Yum, Yum, Yummy!!!

I never measure anything unless it is pastries and desserts. All else is by sight and taste.

Happiest of all happies to you! Thanks!!

Kimberly

Shellon, thanks for your honesty. Like you said, "So much of our frame, our dynamic salutes how we do everything else and I am proud of where I am now....." Yessiree, sistuh, it is all attitude and how we choose to deal with it or at least sort it out to make this fascinating journey work...

As long as our children are proud of us, all is well with our world. Everything else is just water under the bridge.

Blessings galore to you and yours.

Kimberly

And all three have the same first name, Back!!! Now that is funny!!!

Weell, one big difference that sticks out to me is that Bullinger seemed to come up with his research and conclusions on his own.

waysider, your post made me reminisce. When all three of my boys lived at home I strongly considered that I needed to get another job just to feed them. The two oldest were playing soccer, basketball and baseball. They were eating machines. Now the boy is the lone eating machine at home.

Well, the biggie in my fridge is the bird thawing out for Thanksgiving. In the deep freezer is quarts and quarts and quarts of the veggies put up from the summer garden. There is a dozen, or so, quarts of chicken stock, vegetable soup, and God knows what else. We are set for the winter.

Alright now, Twinky and GeorgeStGeorge, get it right...it is..."HEY, where ya'll from?" :P

Some years ago an exchange student from South America, (and if my memory serves me correctly, Buenos Aires), responded to a person in our group, that said something about speaking English, "You don't speak English, you speak American."

I found that interesting.

The way vpw taught believing equals receiving...no, I do not believe it. It put the focus on us humans, we were the superheroes if something grand and wonderful happened.

I remember one wow year the theme was, If it's to be, it's up to me. I think now, oh my God how arrogant, how self serving. See...the focus was on us, the people. The pressure and repercussions were on us poor little souls that just wanted to do what was right. If God did not work or bring about miracles it was our fault because we didn't believe.

It has been my experience in my own little corner in my own little room that my Father goes beyond what I ask or think.

Yeh, WG, Ficus hates to be moved. I saw on a gardening show that gradually moving it from outdoors to in helps it acclimate, therefore, less shock, less shedding. And spraying the leaves, just like a fern, helps it.

I have one basil plant that I potted and moved indoors. It is sitting on a little table at one of the dining room windows. It gets the eastern sun until about 1pm. I am holding on to that baby as long as I can. Yum, yum, yum...fresh basil. My mom called back in the summer and asked what could be substituted for fresh basil in tomato pie and get the same results. Two words..absolutely nothing.

Are you doing the force blooming with the amaryllis? They bloom here in gardens in the late spring. I have forced bloomed daffodils and paper whites with great results. That was some years ago when I had an extra fridge in the storage room. I have never thought of trying amaryllis but I am sure it could be done. The deep red ones would be beautiful just in time for Christmas. Then again, any flower is beautiful in the dead of winter!!

mstar, I am sorry to hear that about your friend. It is shocking and doesn't make sense.