Roast-a-Turkey

Mmm... Doesn't that look tasty? I mean, even with poor lighting it looks tasty. (Taking pictures of food is always tricky, don't you find?)

I've always thought that cooking a whole turkey is something to be done once a year -- maybe. You've gotta buy it and thaw it and rinse it and rub it and stuff it and season it, and the whole thing just sounded like a big hassle. Until I actually did it. So if any of you out there are thinking these same things about turkey preparation, I have a secret for you. It's not hard. It's easy, in fact.

I followed the instructions that I found here. Which are approximately as follows:

1.) Obtain a turkey. (I obtained mine the way I obtain most of my large chunks of meat -- my mother-in-law cleaned out her freezer. Thanks, Mary!)

2.) Let it thaw in your fridge. (This will take 2-3 days, so just chill for a while.)

3.) Remove packaging. Stick your hand all the way down inside and remove the neck and the giblets, if you're lucky enough to have a turkey that comes with them. Save the neck and giblets! You're gonna want to put them in the broth that you are obviously going to make with the carcass when you're done.

4.) Rinse the inside and outside of the turkey, then pat dry with paper towels.

5.) Rub that bird down with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with sea salt and pepper.

6.) (This is all going on in the giant roasting pan you bought for $3 at that estate sale.)

7.) Stick in a 325 degree oven for about 3 hours. Don't cover it. If it starts to brown too fast for your liking, put the lid (or some foil) over the pan. Cook till the little plastic thingy pops out.

Now, at this point you will have a gorgeous turkey, ready for consumption by a.) a large group of people on a normal day, b.) a normal sized group of people on Thanksgiving, or c.) three teenage boys one day after school.

Or you can do like me (who only has to feed one husband and one nursing mama), and tear the turkey carcass to bits and separate the bits into three categories:

Skin and Fat


Meat


Everything Else


And here is everything divided up into bags.


That's 8 bags of meat to throw into skillet meals or casseroles, one bag of skin + fat for making cracklings, and one bag of Karkass, to be combined with the neck and giblets (which are in a bag in the fridge) to make broth (blog post to come).

Yes, I go all 4th grade Indian on my turkeys. Chickens, too. And ducks.

(But seriously, if you don't click on any of the other links in the post [and who could blame you?], click on the cracklings link. It's a fabulous article, and you need to know how to make cracklings.)

Garbatrage

The husband and I made up a new word the other day: garbatrage. (Rhymes with garage.) (See also, garbatrageur, one who engages in garbatrage).

I know you all know garbage.

But do you know arbitrage? It's a great word, and extremely personally validating. There's a word for one of the major things I do with my time! Hooray!

I learned arbitrage from my economist husband, because the word generally refers to stocks and currency and things like that. But when I use it, it generally refers to craft supplies. Or vintage goodies.

Or in the case of April and/or October in Norman, OK, anything that people leave on their curbs that looks semi-useful and will fit in my car.

Now, ever since I learned of this semiannual tradition, I've been hitting the streets of Norman with my trusty driver, keeping my eyes peeled and yelling "PILE!" when I see, well, a pile. Of junk. Although, as they say, one man's trash...

Up until this summer, I could only pick up things that I knew would be useful to myself (or that I knew for sure would be immediately useful to someone I know). But that all changed when we moved into a house with a garage. (Which is suspiciously similar to both garbage and arbitrage. Coincidence?)

Now I can pick up anything of any value, store it in my garage, and sell it at discount prices in a yard sale next spring. And that, my friends, is garbatrage.

When I Forget to Defrost...

...dinner starts out looking like this:


Yeah. That's a big ol' hunk of frozen chicken boolah. I'm trying to stop using the microwave.

Oh, you're probably wondering what a "boolah" is. It's a weird name for an incredibly tasty casserole, courtesy of my college Bible study leader, Larycia. But of course, because it's me and I'm lazy, we eat it as a skillet meal.

Oh, also, the original recipe calls for a can of condensed soup and a bunch of Velveeta, both of which we have cut out of our diets. A big batch of cheesy cheddar white sauce replaces both nicely.

So I'd type the recipe out for you, but I don't really measure. But it looks mostly like this:

1.) Saute:
Chicken
Onion
Bell pepper
minced garlic
can of Rotel
salt and pepper

2.)Bunch of pasta (our current favorite with this is radiatore -- so much fun!)

3.)Cheesy white sauce:
Melt some butter
Stir in an equal amount of white flour -- let cook 1 minute
Whisk in some milk (and some cream, if you have it) and some chicken broth
salt and pepper
STIR (stir, stir, stir) until it starts to thicken. It seems like it will never happen, but it will. KEEP STIRRING. Don't let it bubble.
Add a whole mess of shredded cheddar. Some cream cheese is a nice addition, but I usually leave it out. It makes it smoother. Stir until cheese melts.

Mix 1, 2, and 3 together. If you're not lazy like me, you can pile it in a casserole dish and heat through in the oven.

Also, the cheesy white sauce makes a great queso, especially if you add a can of Rotel.

Status Report

Got this meme from SortaCrunchy, a blog whose name and posts I thoroughly enjoy, so I thought I'd share.

My Status Report - September 2009:

Sitting . . . on the love seat, as usual. It's my nursing nest.

Drinking . . . water, mostly. Gotta stay hydrated!

Moving . . . not a darn thing. Which is nice most of the time.

Reflecting . . . on what I thought life with a kid would be like. Not much like what it is. Everyone tries to tell you what it will be like, but no one can explain it properly; it must be experienced.

Planning . . . what to buy my daughter for Christmas. It's very odd to consider buying presents for someone who has absolutely no opinion on the matter. But she's part of the family, so we want to celebrate with her.

Looking Forward To . . . this weekend! My parents are in town, and my dad has not yet met my 4-month-old daughter.

Wanting . . . Rusty's. Usually.

Hoping . . . that I do right by my baby. Or that I at least apologize when I do wrong.

Regretting . . . breaking that snow globe. I was dusting (that'll teach me!) and I broke a snow globe that a friend brought me from New York City. I am very sad.

Stressing . . . about holiday craft inventory. I have very little time to craft these days.

Surprised . . . ... ...... Hmm. Nothing surprises me anymore? Anyone who knows me have any suggestions?

Studying . . . up on how to use my new camera. So many functions!

Frustrated . . . by people who oppose the president speaking to public school students. But I think that's mainly because I expect very little of public schools.

Eager . . . to watch Glee. Looks to be the best guilty pleasure show ever. The singing! The dancing! The unrequited love! The earnest teacher! The bitchy wife! Fabulous.

Enjoying . . . the peace and quiet of eating dinner and watching Friends while the baby sleeps in the other room. A rare treat.

Missing . . . Kelly Rose. I miss her as I have never missed anyone before.

What about you? If you post this meme somewhere, please let us all know in the comments!

Modern Equipment

I bought a new camera. It came in the mail yesterday. It takes very artsy-fartsy photos without my even trying. See?


So expect lots of new pictures of things, and expect them to be very clear and have excellent lighting, through no fault of my own.

(This might have something to do with the fact that my old camera has 4 megapixels and the new one has 12.1. Hmm. Four years is a long time in digital camera time. Like dog years.)

(In case you're wondering, it's a Canon A1100IS. Green.)

Food, Revisited

Remember this post? I sure do. That honey sauce is still bothering me. I follow several blogs on nutrition and food, and this post showed up in my feed today. It's reminiscent of my post, but with a lot more information. You should read it.

(Unfortunately, unlike the lady who writes that blog, I would have just eaten a bagel and some coffee and gone on with my day. I mean, it's free breakfast. It's not supposed to be awesome. And I like bagels.)

Some Things Never Change

I still love ice cream (even the fake stuff!).


I still love saving money.


I still make this face.


I'm still interested in the USS...er, I mean Russia.


I still twirl my hair.


I still sell at craft fairs.


I'm still a hippie.


But some things do....

I could never be mistaken for a boy.


I'd never be caught dead wearing this fanny pack.


I'm never eating at McDonald's ever again.

The Finished Product

I gave you a peak at the cloth pads I was working on. Well, after more like 2 or 3 hours (not the one hour that I predicted), they're done!

In addition to photos, I thought I'd re-answer some of the questions asked in the comments of the last post, for everyone's benefit.


(Yes, the flame fabric might just be my favorite.)

Q: What are the snaps for?

A: I put them on the flaps to keep the pads in place. If you do an Etsy search, you can see what different styles of pads look like. They almost all use snaps. Snaps last longer than Velcro, and are nicer to the rest of your laundry.


Q: So what kind of fabric do you make them out of?

A: The ones I'm working on now are flannel, towel, towel, windsuit, flannel. :-) The windsuit material gives it a little waterproofness.

Q: How do you take care of used ones? And how long do they last?

A: Before I got pregnant, I would rinse them in cold water until the water ran clear, then keep them in a closed bucket of water and baking soda. Then I'd wash them in hot water every couple days. Now (when I start needing them again) I think I'll rinse them and throw them in with the dirty diapers (Which are in a dry pail and get washed in hot water every day). This is because it will be easier since I'm washing diapers anyway, and because it's unsafe to keep a bucket of water around with a toddler.

Depending on how many you have, what they're made out of, and how you care for them, they can last up to 5 years.


And there you have it.

Also, although I planned to serge around the edges of these (as I serged the flaps and the pantyliners I made that I didn't show you photos of), alas, my serger is wimpy. It couldn't handle all those layers. Phooey. Zig-zag stitch plus walking foot, to the rescue! (Which, by the way, I scored at an estate sale for $30. Sounds like a lot for a sewing machine presser foot, doesn't it? Well, they regularly sell for $50+ on eBay. Yeah.)

Sneak Peak

Here's the project I'm working on at the moment.


Yep, I hear the gasps. Those are pads. Menstrual pads. For me to use. I was reluctant to post about them (with photos), because they are, indeed, taboo. But then I thought, "When has that ever stopped me?" So here they are.


My husband has agreed to give me 2 hours a week when I am completely off mommy duty. I feed Lucy, then I can do whatever I want for an hour, twice a week. Mostly that means craft. I think I only need one more hour to get these done. There are 20 of them.


And they'll have snaps! which came in the mail yesterday. Woot.

Nursing Mommy Trail Mix

Because motherhood is a journey...

OK, I couldn't even type that with a straight face.

I thought today, since I just finished making more of this wonderful stuff, that I'd share with all of you. But I'm not sharing the actual mix -- you have to go make your own! (Although honestly, if you come up to me in church and say, "Jessie, I'm hungry..." I'll give you some.)

I ate quite healthfully while I was pregnant with Babby. I avoided sugar and white flour and tried to load up on the protein and dairy fats. After I gave birth, I went crazy. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. And I was hungry all. the. time. What most women do while they're pregnant, I did after I was done. This included eating an entire bag of dark chocolate chips in less than a week. Gah. Then I realized 1.) That's not the best way to nourish a nursing baby, and 2.) I got really cranky without the chocolate. So I came up with this solution:


Nursing Mommy Trail Mix! (The name is a work in progress -- got any suggestions? The bawdier, the better!)

This beautiful snack food consists of:
--crispy almonds
--crispy walnuts or pecans
--dried cranberries
--dried cherries
--Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate baking chips

"Crispy" nuts means that you buy un-messed-with nuts, soak them in salt water for at least 6 hours, then dry them out in a food dehydrator or warm oven (not over 165 degrees). They turn out all sweet and crispy and awesome.

[Side note: If you haven't heard my story about why soaking nuts and grains makes them tasty and good for you, here it is. There's a technical explanation with a bunch of words that are hard to pronounce, but I like this one a lot better.
Nuts and grains are seeds, right? And seeds are meant to grow in the ground and make more food, right? Well, they're built quite well for that. So well, in fact, that they are equipped with ways to pass through a digestive system and still wind up in the ground, growing something! BUT. If you soak the seeds before you eat them, they start growing, and in essence turn into a vegetable! That means they're a lot easier to digest and much better for you. It's like magic!]

I can make about 3 quarts of this for under $20. So it's not particularly cheap, but it's sooooo good.



So anyway, I eat this trail mix instead of just eating chocolate chips. I get some protein and some good fats and some fruit. I keep a jar of it by my nursing nest (the love seat in the living room) with my water bottle and the basket of things I always seem to need (pens and pencils, nail file, thermometer, breast pads, baby nail clippers, etc.). It's the best!