Being Thankful

Lately my heart has turned to think about being thankful.

When I sat down and decided to revive the blog again, I was up north, in a trailer, on a rainy and cold day, all alone....and I loved it.

I was so thankful for the peace and quiet. For the scenery outside the window, for the chance to sit and do nothing at all, and for the fresh pot of coffee just for me.

This year, for Thanksgiving, (Canadians do it right, I'm sorry to say y'all) I decided to make a turkey.

The phone conversation went a bit like this:

Me- I'm going to make a turkey.
Him- But you've never made a turkey.
Me- That's why I want to make one!
Him- But you have no time to make it (that was true), when are you going to do it?
Me- I can do it, I will do it! I have a plan!
Him- No! I forbid it!
Me- You're a turkey!
Him- Promise me that you won't buy a turkey.
Me- I promise...I won't....buy...a live turkey! ***hangs up phone, evil grin***

Okay so, I'm not promoting marital discord. We did joke about it for a while and I promised that I had a plan. Which I did. He was of little faith, but knew that I would not rest until I satisfied my sense of adventure!

So first, I googled turkeys and discovered that there are so many tips and ideas available to read. I would say: find a reputable source, and stick with that. I ended up turning to my favorite cookbook "The Bride and Groom's First and Forever Cookbook", which I have talked about in a past post. They recommended that I find a fresh turkey, one that has not been pre-brined, as they are the most flavourful and I would be doing the brining. For size, it was recommended to buy 1 pound to 1.5 pounds of turkey per person who would be attending the dinner, especially if I wanted leftovers. So I called around to the local butcher and he had an 18 pounder, which sounded insane. So I decided to try my chances at the grocery store and on the day before Thanksgiving, I found what I was looking for: A lovely 10 pound fresh turkey....Ok I'm lying, they're not very lovely. They're huge, slimy birds. But, I digress..

The next project was to find a roaster. As luck would have it, I found one during a yard sale adventure this past summer for $7. Mine looks like this: 

I also picked up a silicone roasting rack on clearance. It did the job, but was a bit flimsy. I did like that it folded and fit inside the roaster.

I wanted to brine the turkey for a long time to ensure that it was infused with moisture. So the night before I was going to cook it, I took it out of the fridge to start the process. Lucky for me, my sister who is not afraid of much and happens to be in medical school, was there to help me prep the turkey. She helped me to rinse it both inside and out with water. She then reached inside and took out the neck and giblets (grrrroooooossss). I set them inside in the fridge for later. 

I happened to have a large, clear plastic bag, but the cookbook also recommends using Reynolds Brining Bags (check out the website for lots of faqs about brining). Basically, the bird is placed in the bag with 1 cup of Sugar and 1 cup of Salt and about a gallon of water (enough to cover the turkey).  I then let as much air escape from the bag as possible before I sealed it, and placed the entire pan (just for stability and in case of a leak) with the bagged bird in the fridge overnight. 

I estimated that I would need 3 hours to cook the turkey, so I took it out of the brine 4 hours before dinner. I rinsed the brine solution off the turkey and patted it dry with paper towels inside and out before placing it on the roasting rack which I had set in the roaster. NOTE: Place the turkey in the rack, Breast side DOWN. 

I preheated the oven to 400°F and ensured that the oven rack was at it's lowest position and there was enough room for the turkey inside (you may need to remove the other racks). While the oven heated up, I let the turkey sit and get closer to room temperature. I also prepped all of the veggies and fruit that I would use in the pan and inside the turkey during cooking. I chose sliced apples and oranges, onions, garlic, carrots, fresh parsley and fresh rosemary sprigs. I used what I had, and a little imagination...you can do the same! I was able to twist the wings under the shoulders, and thankfully, the turkey came with tied drumsticks, otherwise they have to be tied together with string.

I lightly seasoned the turkey with salt and pepper, and then placed one third of the veggies and fruit inside of the turkey's body cavity with the herbs. In the pan I placed the rest of the chopped veggies and fruit, fresh herbs, 2 dried bay leaves, the giblets and neck, then poured 1.5 cups of white wine (I actually used some leftover champagne and topped the rest with marsala) and lastly 3 cups of water into the bottom of the roasting pan. Lastly, I melted 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter in the microwave and brushed it all over the turkey's skin, making sure to end with the turkey breast side down.

The rest was fairly easy; I placed the turkey in the oven and let it cook. The book said to check it 1 hour later, but I waited a little longer (approx 1.5 hours) and then took the turkey out of the oven, flipped it over to breast side up and then basted it with the pan juices before returning it to the oven. 

Another 1.5 hours later, the turkey was a lovely golden brown and was looking done. I took my instant read thermometer and measured the temperature in the thickest part of the thigh. It needed to register between 170-175 °F and the breast should register at 165 °F  or higher. Thankfully, the temperatures were right, and with great success I removed the turkey from the oven, placed it on a platter and then tented it with some aluminum foil.

I took the pan juices, strained out the large pieces and poured it into a saucepan. Then I boiled it together with some chicken stock and thickened it with cornstarch for gravy. Delicious!

While we prepped all of the fixings, the turkey stayed good and hot. Its okay to let the turkey sit for up to 2 hours. We did not have to do that, but when we carved it, it was evenly warm and moist.

Without further ado, here's what our Thanksgiving Dinner looked like:

Baby Spinach Salad with Vanilla Infused Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil Dressing 

Sweet Potatoes, cooked slowly in the crockpot (wash, stack, put on high heat, add a little water, set for a few hrs. and presto caramel-y sweet!)

Creamy Garlic Mashed Potato, Roasted Baby Carrots w Herbs, Homemade Rosemary Infused Cranberry Sauce

Homemade Stuffing and Steamed Green Beans with Slivered Almonds

Last, but not least, the Bird of the Hour, My First Ever Roasted TURKEY!!

My Plate of Deliciousness!

Better than the meal, and the fact that my first Turkey dinner was a hit...was the people that filled the room. Just remembering it brings a smile to my face. 

There is not much out there that can compete with the feeling of sitting down after a day of hard work and a week of mental preparation, of scampering all over the kitchen and piling pots and pans in every corner...to the sights, sounds and smells of a room filled with ones you love, enjoying a meal straight from your heart, laughing together....pure. joy. gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. 

So Long Summer

My summer.

It was not what I expected or planned. It felt long at times and so very short at others. It was busy in good ways and challenging as well. Now I am ready to breathe in the crisp air of Autumn and embrace a new year of life (Happy Birthday to Me). I also feel ready to put words back on a page and get more creative in the kitchen. Something about the chilly air makes me want to bake and cook new things.

But before I move forward, here's a snapshot of what you missed:

Where did we go?
Not much of anywhere...No long trips this time around. However, we did make a little weekend getaway to Cleveland and experienced what their quaint downtown and culinary scene had to offer. If you go, you have to eat at the Chocolate Bar restaurant located downtown.

Salted Dark Chocolate on a Toasted Baguette with an Olive oil and melted Chocolate dipping sauce. Amazing! 

We also took an extended business trip up to St. Catherines and made a point to stop in London, Ontario then St. Jacobs for the farmer's market, on to Kitchener/Waterloo, Niagara Falls and lastly Niagara on the Lake. 

If I could pick only one place to return to, I would definitely head back to Kitchener/Waterloo. We tried a few restaurants and were pleasantly surprised by their culinary scene. In Kitchener we ate at Martini's Restaurant, where Matthew enjoyed eating Pig Tails, which are a very savory cut of pork and are actually...pig's tails. We were really impressed with the menu offerings which were comprised of locally grown food. The next morning we headed to The Bauer Kitchen for a delicious breakfast of French Toast (I have an addiction) and an interpretation of Breakfast Poutine with the smoothest cup of coffee that I still crave. Both restaurants belong to a collection of world class restaurants in the Waterloo area by The Charcoal Group, and I hope to go back to try some of the others.

What did we eat?

This summer was the summer of fresh local corn. I grilled it, I used it in salads and soup, or buttered it up and ate it on the cob. Its probably fitting because we moved to Tecumseh, the home of the Corn Fest. The whole weekend long, the air smelled of grilled sweet corn, mmm delicious! I also broke out my ice cream maker that I found at a garage sale for $5, and tried my hand at peach ice cream. It was yummy and so fresh!

It was also the summer of new foods. I tried quinoa for the first time, as well as cousous (I've eaten it before, but not by itself). Its terribly unhealthy and embarrassing, but for the first year of marriage, I always kept a carton of 35% whipping cream in our fridge to use for meals. I blame it on cookbooks with no regard for my waistline. Needless to say, we needed to find different options besides rotating a different meat every night for dinner. That's when we invented "Meatless Mondays", which is a term we used loosely because we rarely had it on a Monday, and we always had some type of meat in small amounts. So it was more like "Summer Salad Suppers", where our main entree was a salad. We had so many variations, its hard to remember them all, but my goal was to create a filling but healthy and delicious salad with new ingredients each time. I would often put a grilled fruit or veggie in it, such as corn, peaches, nectarines or apple. We would choose one type of meat such as taco seasoned ground beef for a Mexican salad or grilled sausage to use in small amounts. I'll let some of the pictures speak for themselves...

So the summer has come and gone, and it was not disappointing by any means. Just different. 

I have learned a lot, I have taken some time to rest and now, NOW, I am back and ready to write again. Thank you for waiting, friends. 

Welcome Fall! Bring on the apples, cranberries, squash, and maple syrup. Bring on beautiful colours, crisp air, cuddly sweaters and cold noses. I'm ready for you!