Archives for November 2011

Gobble Gobble

November 14, 2011 by ·

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday…
(no, not the green and red one that the stores seem to think comes next…)

I share with you the SECRET…
an ancient Vernal secret…
passed down from generation to generation…
… well, it was passed from a mother in law who received a very desperate call from a daughter in law, who couldn’t reach her own mother on the eve of her first Hosting of Thanksgiving
… who didn’t even realize that you needed to defrost the turkey DAYS before the big day (did I mention this was the night before the blessed event, for which we were hosting a houseful of family and friends??!) … let alone how to actually cook the turkey!

… and asked her simply, “hey, do you know how to cook a turkey??!”
… to which she gave me the most simple secret to the yummiest,
most tender
and scrumptiously moist
turkey
that you will ever sink your teeth into!

… did I mention it’s EASY??!!
(and no, this picture is NOT a turkey that I cooked – I don’t get that fancy… just wanted to give you a visual to wet the appetite a bit…)

Are you ready for this??

all you need is 4 ingredients:
1. the turkey (hopefully thawing in the fridge days before…)
2. an apple (no, not the computer kind!)… a real, live apple

…just in case you need a visual 🙂
3. some celery

(yep, the good ole’fashioned green stuff!)
4. a turkey oven bag

and yes, you DO need the turkey size. You don’t need the extra stress of trying to fit a turkey into a chicken sized bag… you may as well try to stuff yourself into your high school jeans… it’s not going to fit!

… oh yea, you can also add some salt and pepper if you want…

then simply rinse the turkey,
(be sure to pull out all of the ‘goodies’ the nice butcher people leave for you – neck, gizzard, possible gravy bag… yep I’ve seen a bunch of things stuck up in there!).
Chop up the apple and celery (for a big turkey, I usually use about 2 apples and 3-4 stalks of celery), and stuff them inside the turkey.
Follow instructions on the bag box,
Put turkey in oven according to directions on turkey bag,
Cook until that handy dandy thermometer pops up,
take out and let rest for a bit,
then slice into it and enjoy seeing the moisture just ooze down the knife.

Yes, it really IS that easy.
and it works!!
Going on 11th Thanksgiving Turkey this year
and the past 10 have all worked like a charm!

So from our house to yours –
Happy Thanksgiving!

Filed Under: Recipes

Juggling…

November 4, 2011 by ·

… has never been something that I have been good at. 

I have been amazed when I can see people juggling all sorts of crazy objects, all with a huge smile, and all without breaking a sweat.
Amazing.Lately, however, I have been feeling like everywhere I turn, I have been picking up more things than I can hold, and have therefore resorted to juggling to try to keep them all afloat.

Like my house:
I would post pictures… but it’s just plain embarrassing.
I don’t think there’s a single area that is actually clean and organized.
I keep thinking that deep down inside me there is a meticulously organized, minimalist person…
but right now she’s buried underneath loads of clutter.

And not very good and juggling.

And then the kids
I know in some circles 5 kiddos is just getting started.
But in my circle, it’s all I can do to keep up with them…
Keeping then fed and clothed is an added bonus.
When I actually get them to different destinations on time, it’s a hallelujah moment.

Juggling gets a bit more comical when all 5 personalities come shining through…

like when we sign up 3 kids for ski lessons,
and my 5 year old (who really is amazonian-like in largeness) decides to turn into a spaghetti noodle, slipping through my arms multiple times as he whines ‘I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go…’ about 5 minutes after I had explained to the instructor that he was the best one out of the 3…

Or when I’m dragging all 5 kiddos out of bed to make it across town to 7 AM violin lessons.
Really?!  Where was my brain when that scheduling idea came through my juggling arms.
(Is it bad that I almost started crying with joy when the teacher cancelled all lessons for a couple of weeks??)

Then there’s my book…
I know I know, I’ve talked about it so much, you’re sick of hearing about it.

I have a publisher wanting to take over production…
which is great, right??
yes… but that means that in some ways I have to go back to pretending it’s not actually published, and revise the manuscript with updates, and get everything sent in.
And each day as the sands of time slip through my fingers, I vow to plow through the last bits of it when the kids go down.
and then something happens when the kids go down…
My brain suddenly melts into mush,
My Body suddenly reminds me how much I have tormented it at the gym,
And I generally turn into a zombie, not really able to juggle anything else besides the TV remote.Or the invention…
Yea, that’s still in the juggling mix right now also.
Although I’m barely hanging on to that one by my fingernails…
Plugging away… at about a snails pace on that one.

Just enough to keep it in the juggling arena… and on my guilty conscience.

Not to even mention the additives, like friendships and relationships, calling stewardships… and all other types of -ships.

Those, well, have pretty much been getting all mangled in the juggle.

Sorry if you are one of those and have been feeling a bit – neglected- lately.  It’s not that I don’t think about you and want to revive the -ships…
Right now I just plain don’t have enough arms to keep everything afloat.

And I think we have established the fact that I don’t really know how to juggle.

So, please forgive me as I set down the juggling pins and just hibernate for a while and dig out of the avalanche of ‘stuff’ that has suddenly collapsed all around me.

… and maybe sign up for some juggling lessons

Filed Under: Uncategorized