Our Everyday

Remember in writing class when you had to make those outlines, with all the a,bc's and 1,2,3's, Roman numerals and all that stuff. I was thinking that is what I need here, which would be the only time ever outside of school that I ever thought of using that skill which drove me up the wall back in the school days.
So anyway, I will proceed without the assistance of the outline. One Tues, Sadie had a "feast"at school consisting of chicken nuggets and smiley fried potatoes. They learned about giving thanks and the Pilgrims and all everyone left class topped with their own rendition of a Native American feather hat, for lack of a better or more appropriate term.
For Thanksgiving, we had my mom and Sonja out here to visit. They flew in on Thursday so I planned the feast for Friday so I could have some help with the ol' bird and everything else. We brined the turkey and it turned out really yummy. So now with my second attempt at roasting a turkey under my belt I feel I have achieved the gold star in turkey preparation. Sorry to those who suffered thru the first attempt!
Bare with me as I digress...

There is something about the whole turkey feast at Thanksgiving that seems to parallel some ancient tradition of hunting and ceremony, all in a modern light.

THE HUNT
Let me explain...I was some what naive when it came to getting a turkey. I thought you just go into the butcher and say I need a turkey around so and so pounds. Also this year I was going to get a fresh turkey from Whole Foods but I had no idea that there was a need to pre-order. So I look on line on Sunday and there is no info about pre-ordering so I decide after some consideration that I will go in to the store on Tues to get our festive bird. Upon arriving at the meat counter there are people lined up all over and a table for special order pick up, I find a man who seems to be running the show and ask him about getting a turkey. "Did you order ahead?"
"No."
" We are out of turkeys but we are getting some more from another store in about an hour."
"Would there be an extra that I could hold until tomorrow?"
"Yes, what size?"
Yada, yada, yada, he says he will have one for me tomorrow when the store opens. We make it to the store around noonish and Sadie decides that she needs some lunch, so I find some hot soup. We pay but the printer for the register breaks so we have to wait for that to be fixed and sit down to eat. Once we are about finished I sign the receipt and we pack up to pick up some other last minute items and head back to the meat counter, along with all the other masses of fresh turkey loving folk. There is really no order and you saddle up to the counter and wait for a unencumbered butcher. One such man asks me if I need some help I tell him my name and that I have a turkey on hold. He searches all over, consults the same list several times and finally I see the man running the show and he remembers me and even my name! I tell the confused and fluster butcher that this ring master has my turkey so not to fret and sorry for the confusion. Soon I have the fourteen pounder in the cart and head for the check out.

THE PREPARATION FOR THE FEAST
Thanks to modern conveniences like butchers, I did not need to gut and de-feather the bird myself!
So the brining of a turkey takes 24 hours. Wednesday evening I prepare the brine according to Martha Stewarts Perfect Roast Turkey recipe on www.marthastewart.com. Basically, it is salt, sugar, water and spices. Bring to a boil and let cool. So Thursday the turkey takes a dunk in the brine until the following morning. Friday morning after a nice late morning rising I prepare the turkey for roasting, which does not reallly involve much. This of course sets back the dinner time a bit, but sweet sleep is really worth it these days. And to give my mom credit it was more of a joint effort throughout.
We get all the fixings together. Pies were baked on Thursday. And next is the feast

FEAST AND ALL OTHER TURKEY RELATED MEALS TO FOLLOW

So we eat and be merry. It was all quite good, but after returning to the kitchen after dinner there sits before me a turkey with most of one half carved but there is still more than half left. So I carve as much off as possible and throw on the big stock pot with some water and the rest of the uncarvible. That cooks for some hours that night and out into the ice box, otherwise known as the garage for the night. This is one of the greatest things ever about living where it is cold. The out of doors can be your refrigerator. I must thank Amilda for the idea, I would have never thought of it without seeing her do it over Christmases past.
That made a winters worth of soup and now the bottom of our freezer is stocked for easy dinners on cold nights.
We had turkey sandwiches, and reheated turkey dinners. We had turkey and gravy over noodles and turkey soup. We had all that and honestly I am not sick of turkey yet. But I must admit that I am glad it is gone for now.

So I feel like I truly was invested in the tradition of the turkey feast this year, my first time for preparing it all. It was a lot of work but I look forward to many more to come where I am making more than just a side dish.


Now back to the previously schelduled review...
It has been warm the last three days so today we went out the playground for awhile around lunch time. And spent the afternoon playing around the house.
Yesterday, Sadie went to school and had fun. They were singing and dancing to Frosty the Snowman when I got there to wait to pick her up. When Miss McGlynn opens the door after class, it is like these live wires come exploding out the door.