To Brine or Not to Brine?

 That is the question this Thanksgiving season.

 

(photo of maple-brined turkey from the Food Network)

Pioneer Woman had blogged about brined turkey last year, 

and I considered it until it became evident that I 

wouldn't have to attempt a turkey.

I had decided about a month ago to give it 

a try so I have been researching recipes.

There are only a gazillion different brine recipes and every other show on the Food Network is brined turkey.  I have found recipes for Spanish Rub brine, bay and lemon, honey, maple, herb-crusted, and beer brines.  

We have decided to give Anne Burrell's recipe a try.  

 

She has the show "Secrets of a Restaraunt Chef" 

and I secretly think she is  Guy Fieri's twin. 

At any rate we are going to do her Brined Herb-Crusted 

Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy.

Brine:

• 7 quarts water
• 1 quart apple cider
• 3/4 cup kosher salt
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 head garlic, cut in 1/2 equatorially
• 1/2 bunch fresh rosemary
• 1/2 bunch fresh sage
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 12 to 14 pound turkey

Herb Crust:

• 1 bunch fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
• 1 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped
• 3 sticks butter, room temperature
• Kosher salt

Gravy:

• 1 large onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bunch thyme
• Kosher salt
• 1 quart chicken stock, divided
• 2 cups apple cider, divided
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Of course, Thanksgiving is still 11 days away so I may change my mind ...

once, or twice or six times!

Anybody out there have any experience with brining a turkey?

Amazing Race

I love Sundays.

Besides being good for catching a nap, this is the

night that the Amazing Race is on.

I dream of participating in it.

Mary and I went so far as to submit an entry the

season that they were looking for families.

I think Jamal must have been all of ten years old!

We designed really cool t-shirts to wear for our video.

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?

But wait, our creativity didn't stop there ....

Our true wit and humor is displayed on the back of my shirt.

The very bottom line reads:

Did we mention modest?

They should have chosen us on the basis of our shirts alone!

We would make a pretty incredible team.

I am geographically challenged, but Mary can look at a map and have it committed to memory.  She can go some place once and remembers every detail of the route to and from.  I can pull into a Burger King and struggle to get back on the right interstate!

My strength would be my lead foot.  It's no secret that I like to drive fast. 

When we go to Colorado to visit Mary and the kids, Mardell always calls to let them know that we have left town.  Mary always asks who's driving, so she knows whether to expect us 45 minutes earlier than the drive would typically take .... or 45 minutes later,

as seems to be the case if Mardell drives.

I'd have trouble putting up with some of the other teams.  I am very slow to warm up to people, but Mary can talk to anyone ... about anything. She can talk to someone and they have no clue she thinks that they are a moron.  Me, there's no doubt that's what I think. 

I think we'd both be pretty devious though.  I'm scared to death of heights, but I can usually force myself to do stuff involving heights and I love adrenaline pumping activities.  I'm not really sure about some of the food challenges though.  They eat some pretty gross stuff.  Makes Mom's green bean casserole look tame.

Every season there is a team that I root for

and one that I can't wait to see be eliminated.

I can't stand whiners and the chick who wouldn't go down

the water slide in the sixth leg of the race took the cake.

I had wanted them off since the premiere.

 

I don't know what her problem was.

It's only six stories tall and you go through a tube of sharks.

Sounds like fun to me.

Naturally I am pulling for the Harlem Globetrotters.

They've been my favorite basketball team since Grandad Jiggs took me to see them live.

Of course that was back when Curly and Meadowlark was on the team!

I also liked the Poker Chicks, but Mary didn't.  I was sorry to see them go.

I can't wait to see what happens tonight!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy 90th birthday!

 

We wish that we could be there with you to celebrate.

Instead, we'll be here recalling fond memories

and looking forward to our next visit to South Dakota.

Cookies are on their way .... we figured you would enjoy those more than flowers!

Remembering Mom

We are sad to announce that our mom, Pam, passed away on Friday morning.

I've been thinking about her a lot this week and wanted to share a few memories.

There is a joke in our family about our mother's green bean casserole--one of us will have to make it and post the recipe and step-by-step photo journal to give you the full impact of its non-yumminess. It definitely wasn't our favorite meal, but it was apparently her favorite one to make, because it seemed like we ate it on a pretty regular basis. We teased her a lot about that casserole over the years. But we didn't always say enough about her other gifts.

Her strength, her compassion, her love.

Now that I'm a mother, I realize how hard it is to raise kids. You try your hardest and hope for the best. I can only imagine how trying it must have been with four girls. The hormones alone in that house would have been enough to send anyone over the edge.

Our mom was the kind of mom who let us bring home a menagerie: the number of hamsters--"Look, Mom! We found him in the garden!" (while hiding the Pamida receipt and the box it came in). Birds, fish, cats, puppies, rabbits, and especially the golden retriever puppy that Trudy dragged home. ("We HAVE to keep her or they'll put her to sleep!!) Mom had a soft spot for Champ--for all of them: Pokey, Buster, Boo, Snickers.

She was the kind of mom who let her kids build a crazy-big treehouse in the backyard. (Thank goodness, she never knew about all of the Mooseheads ingested inside of it.)

I never took the time to say thank you for all of the parent-teacher conferences, piano recitals, or (geek alert!) swing choir concerts she attended.

The last few years were pretty hard on our mom. She felt things deeply. She grieved along with her loved ones every time they experienced a loss. After Jenny, Sarah, and our Dad died, she had a pretty tough time and there wasn't much any of us could do to help ease her pain.

I like to think about the things that did make her happy, the things she loved. She talked a lot about her trip to the redwoods when she visited her friend Sharon and she seemed breathless when she and Trudy came to Yosemite with me in California. Although that may have been the altitude.

I think about how in her fifties, she started over again, how Trudy and Mardell coaxed her into trying new adventures--water aerobics or painting "The Bob Ross Way", becoming a classroom-grandparent.

How through all of the tragedies, she also got to experience the miracles--seeing Jenny's son, Kel, grow into a young man, or Katie's girls Krista and Dani win ribbons at the fair. She got to share in our newest little miracle, coming our way this spring.

I hope when people think of our mom, they think of some of the things she loved: trees and words (she was a killer scrabble player--knew every two letter word in the English language.) Her love of Indian casinos and hot tubs, her ferocious allegiance to Pepsi products. . .

I'm grateful to my sisters and Aunt Sue for looking out for her and taking care of her. The last month or so, seemed like some of mom's happiest. She was facebooking and baking cookies, trying out new recipes. So well cared for, Trudy--thank you.

So, even if we never pass down that old recipe for green bean casserole, I hope we carry on her legacy of compassion and strength, and love.

October Birthdays

The Three Sisters (and a cat) are still alive!

With school starting up again Sister One has stayed busy with her students.

Sister Two has been keeping up with her brood and turning 40.

Sister Three lives in California and is always on an exciting adventure.

But two weekends ago, Sister one and Sister Three wanted to surprise

Sister Two (me) for my 40th birthday.

They ambushed me by showing up on my door step.

Sister Three had forgotten how cold Nebraska

is in the fall, as we had a recent snow fall.

October is a busy birthday month for our family.

My oldest daughter, myself and Sister Three all celebrate birthdays within

a week of each other. But my kind sisters and mom wanted to make

my birthday extra special, since it was the big 40!

They all went together and purchased me a brand new

Nikon 40 camera with lenses! Needless to say I was speechless and

extremely excited!

What great use I will get out of this camera, as both daughters are active in sports and 4-H. Then in March we will be adding another addition on to our family with a new baby!!

Life is full of surprises as is turning 40!

So I have taken the camera out a couple of times and as you can see

I still need lots of practice.

I snapped some Sandhills Cranes in the field south of the ranch

Then I captured some images from the corn field

and the guys chopping corn earlage to feed to the cattle this winter.

I'm sure I will get better with practice

Daughter two snapped this picture of the sunset.