The Meal

What a beautiful day yesterday was!!  We had a wonderful meal; stress-less and tasty.  The turkey came out perfectly...and we have enough left over for turkey sandwiches over the weekend.

I have a friend that I have known for 22 years and have worked with for about 10 years; I have grown to love her dearly.  She is invaluable as she really keeps me focused with at work.  We are also both foodies and love to talk about recipes and cookbooks.  She also has a lot of wisdom in dealing with life.

One day a few weeks ago, while we had a couple of seconds, we got onto the topic of china. I told my friend about my great grandmother's China that has been in the family since 1925.  Grandma Wyckoff bought it either from someone one she knew or brand new for around $500.00.  We aren't really sure. But just imagine how much money that was 88 years ago!  It still is a lot in my book.  But, my Grandma Wyckoff liked nice things. Yet, she was clever about how she purchased her home furnishings.  Tragically, the house caught fire on a cold night in January, 1980.  My Grandpa Wyckoff was killed in the fire; he was 89.  My Grandma died 6 years prior in a nursing home.

Much was lost in that fire - so many things that evoked memories were simply gone.  Only a few things were left; tables, chairs, Grandma's overstuffed chair that she sat in to do her sewing, the table that held the lamp she used to see with.  And the china cabinet survived with all the china in it.  My Grandma Marsh ended up with the china, only she never used it.  Never.  She was afraid to use it, and she didn't want to spend the time washing the pieces by hand.  Those pieces could not go into the dish washer since they were rimmed with 24 carat gold.  So, they sat for 43 years!  Well, almost.  My mom recently reminded me that we used them about 10 years ago for Christmas dinner at her house. 

Mom finally decided that the best place for the china was with me.  And I intend to use it on a regular basis.  It's value, to me, lies in it being used and loved rather than safely stored in a cabinet never seeing the light of day.  I want my daughters to acquire an emotional bond with these dishes.  I hope that doesn't sound too silly, but I simply wish that my girls to see and use the china to keep a new tradition going and to make a connection across my family's generations.

Due Diligence...

Diligence.  The word haunts me.  I am not cut out for it.  I give up, procrastinate, hide behind a box.  I seem to lack the gene for staying power, and I know I am not alone.  I want to focus more - to keep my house super clean, keep the dog hair out of the corners, clean the cushions of the doggy chair.  I want to place glorious meals on the perfectly decorated table while wearing a cute apron, of course.
Due Diligence; doing the right thing, doing what you need to do, doing it and feeling a sense of accomplishment....hmm.  How can I do this and keep balance in my life?  I am learning that I am very off balance.  I want to do so much, yet time evaporates... or wastes away while watching T.V.

I am getting ready to cut the cable.  For many of you that doesn't sound like a bad thing.  Many of you have no umbilical cord to the remote.  But when I grew up, watching T.V. together in the living room was how we had family time.  My brothers and I acted as the remote.  We sat on the floor at my mom and dad's feet and for the first time all day that we were together.  We ate dinner at the table, cleaned up and sat down.  We only had three channels back then and we had a network that we watched more faithfully.  As we got older, mom and dad would sit at the dinning room table with my grandmother and talk, or play Parcheesi.  We played, had cut throat competition and we laughed.  So for me T.V. watching has always been a family event.  No longer.

These days it gets watched on different T.V.s and computers.  Everyone has their own entertainment center, bedrooms, dens, living rooms and family rooms.  It seems hardly anyone in the family watches the same show.  I have one daughter who dosen't watch tv at all.  If we are watching a special movie, then maybe.  Losing the multi-channel (about 100 real channels, not shopping and such) idiot box is huge for me. But our new budget has no room for the cost.

So that is one rung toward the goal of not wasting time.  That is the biggest rung for me.  My health also plays into this.  I have limited mobility; limited but not gone all together.  So I am going to push myself to do more; baby steps, but steps.

So, due diligence....doing what is right, doing what needs to be done, putting the effort and work into a plan.  What is my Plan?  I am still working out the details, but foremost it includes cooking and recipes. I do simple cooking - simple but yummy recipes.  I believe in cooking for my family, eating at home and cleaning up the dishes.  I love to have a clean kitchen and a shiny sink.  That is my plan...

Stay tuned and join me for simple, tasty recipes. Recipes resulting from simple shopping and easy preparation but full of flavor. 



But this would not be a recipe site with out a recipe:

My simple dry brined, spiced rubbed turkey

12-14 lb turkey
1 double batch of McCormick Turkey Rub
1 onion
1 lemon
1 bunch of rosemary, thyme and sage from a purchased poultry fresh herb blend
1 stick of softened butter

Two days before you plan to cook your turkey, you will dry brine the bird. 
Remove the bird from it's packaging and rinse the whole bird.  Remove the neck and save for later (I make stock with it), find the bag of stuff and either discard or use later.
Place the turkey on a small sheet pan, with sides.
3-4 T. of kosher salt, do not use regular "table" salt.  It will leave a metallic taste.
Sprinkle the salt all over the bird, it should look like it has snowed.  Place the bird uncovered in the fridge.  You could loosely cover it with wax paper if you have too.
The salt melts into and through the skin, it keeps the meat moist.  Also drying out the skin helps to produce and great crispy skin.

Day of cooking!
First thing you must do is turn the oven on to 500 degrees.  The oven needs 20 minutes to truly heat up.
Rinse the bird, then place on a rimmed sheet pat.  Using paper towel dry the bird completely.
Peel the onion and cut into chunks, cut the lemon in half.  Stuff half the onion inside the cavity, the lemon, a spring of rosemary, sage and thyme. Rub the butter all over the bird.  Sprinkle the McCormick Turkey Rub over  the entire bird. 
Now place your turkey in the oven, legs first, and set your timer for 30 minutes. 

When the timer goes off, remove the bird, and cover the breast meat with a piece of buttered foil,  This helps keep the breast meat protected.  Turn the oven down to 350.

Now I am going to tell you what I do, this is not what our wonderful gov. tells you to do.  You do want you wish.  This is simply how I do it. 
I cook my bird until the temp between the leg and breast meat reaches 150 degrees, (my bird is un-stuffed).  I then cover the entire bird with foil, tightly.  The bird must rest for a good 20 minutes.  The temp of the bird will continue to rise and will hit 165 for 15 seconds, which kills everything bad.  But you will have a moist, tasty bird.