Thanksgiving Recap

This years meal was a great success! We had a ton of food, and we are still eating leftovers! I made a 25 pound turkey this year, and it was incredible! I seasoned it with rosemary, sage, olive oil, salt and pepper, and cooked it in a Reynolds bag. I always allow too much time for the Turkey to cook, and this year was no exception. All of the websites I looked at said it would take 5 hours at 350 degrees. It took about 3.5 at 325, which I kept lowering a d finally had at 275. I used a digital meat thermometer to watch the internal temperature of the turkey. When I see that it is cooking too fast, I drop it by 25 degrees. The result is an amazing bird. After making dressing and gravy, I had 2 freezer bags full of dripping left. Those Reynolds bags really do the trick!

After thanksgiving I decided to boil down the remaining bird to make stock. I ended up with turkey and rice soup, pulled turkey BBQ and 2 more freezer bags of broth.

We just ate the last of the ham today, so the bone and remaining bits and pieces are headed to the freezer for new years day collard greens:) mmm!

All in all, it was a great event. The food was fantastic, the weather was perfect, and I won't have to balance homework and projects with cooking next year! Yay!

Fall Cleaning- part 3: the towel rack saga

Saturday was spent searching for a decorative and functional towel rack for my master bath. My husband has a bad habit of stealing my towel- and I have a bad habit of not noticing until it is too late! He brilliantly suggested a towel rack for our bathroom. I think it turned out looking great!

Thanksgiving Prep: let the baking begin!

The big bake out was successful! We made two pecan pies (one with chocolate chips), corn bread for dressing and a spice cake with cream cheese frosting. Mmmm! I haven't tried any of them- but will post recipes and tips after I do if they turned out well!

More Fall Cleaning- I blame the dishes!

This weekend I cleaned and organized like we were expecting a baby! Nothing was safe. Closets were organized, Hobby Lobby was bought out of colorful decor for our bedroom, guest bathroom and den. Nothing was safe from my reorganizing and redecorating. Except the dishes in the sink...

Have you ever had one of those days when you knew there was something that HAD to be done, but you did everything except that? That was me this past weekend.

Fall Stewing: Pork loin and collards

My favorite meal is a southern new years day tradition: pork loin, collard greens and black eyed peas. Legend has it that the more collards you eat, the more money in bills you will receive in the coming year, and the more black eyes peas you eat, the more coins. I just love the way they taste, and I have fond memories of my grandfather, Grump, picking collards from his garden for my Gran to cook:)

Today, while shopping for Thanksgiving, I remembered that I froze some left over ham from last thanksgiving to later use with collards. So I decided to pick up some collard greens and a pork loin for dinner tonight. I pulled the ham straight out of the freezer and put it in a stock pot with a little water in it. I set a lid on it and let it heat until the meat was warm and the water was simmering. Then I dumped a bag of collard greens on top, put the lid on and let it simmer for 5 hours. While they were cooking, I took my pork loin, put garlic power, sea salt, pepper and rosemary on it and set it in about 1 cup of white wine in the crock pot. I cooked it on low for about 5 hours as well. The pork was amazing when it came out. It was so tender you didn't have to use a knife. The collards are hands down the best I have ever had. I will be saving some ham again this year for sure in hopes that I can repeat the greens I made tonight!

Thanksgiving Prep: The Shopping

What? Grocery Shopping two weeks out from Thanksgiving?? I must be crazy, right? Wrong. Not only did I run into some fellow church members doing the same thing, but now I have everything I need - except the turkey- for all the cooking I need to do. Woot Woot!

I will be at a conference for work next weekend, so I was feeling pressured to go ahead and make my shopping list, plan what serving pieces I needed, and get all of my ingredients together so when I get home next Sunday I can fire up my oven and get to baking!

Thanksgiving Prep: Fall Cleaning

I am a bit embarrassed to post the pictures that follow. Last night I was in a mood, so I decided to clean. I needed to get a good idea of what spices I had- and what I needed to replenish for thanksgiving.... So I decided to clean out my kitchen cabinets. Cue the creepy horror movie music.

By the end of the evening I had four trash bags full of old spices, flour, expired canned goods and Tupperware. I also cleaned off my counter tops that were filled with various oils (olive, canola, sesame, peanut) and vinegars (apple, wine, balsamic and regular). It was gross to realize how old some of the things were, but feels so good to have everything cleaned. Plus, a great excuse to go to the Dekalb Farmer's Market and get some new spices!

Thanksgiving Countdown

We are hosting Thanksgiving again this year. My husband's family rarely gets together for holidays, so when we got married somehow I was sweet talked into how great it would be to host thanksgiving at our house. And so the tradition began. How hard could cooking for 15 be anyway?

This year I decided to forgo the usual "sign up to bring a dish"that we have always done. This may sound snobby, but when it comes to food, I like to know what to expect, and I have really high standards. Our menu this year is:
Turkey
Honey Baked Ham
Dressing
Giblet gravy
Rice
Croissants
Asparagus casserole
Corn pudding
Macaroni and Cheese
Strawberry Congealed Salad
Pecan pie
Spice cake

The ham has been ordered, and the shopping list for everything else is being crafted tonight. I know it is more work to make everything from scratch, but honestly it just tastes so much better that way!

So pour some wine, sit back, and prepare yourself for the 2 weeks of work it takes to pull off thanksgiving dinner (while working a full time job and going back to school). Cheers!

Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Another cool weather favorite for me is peppermint hot chocolate. I boil water in a tea kettle and pour it into a normal size mug with one Swiss Miss hot chocolate packet and about 1/4 cup of half and half (you can sub milk). Mix this together with a fork, pour in an ounce of peppermint schnapps and top with whipped creme and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Perfection!

Brunswick Stewing

Today was one of those chilled to the bone rainy days. Perfect for Brunswick stew and corn muffins!

My mom's secret recipe:
1 can 30 oz diced tomatoes (or stewed)
1 can 15 oz creamed corn
1 8oz jar of salsa (or two!)
1 package of pulled BBQ pork
1 can of chunk chicken

Combine all ingredients in a pot or crockpot and let simmer for a few hours. Remember to stir it, as it will burn on the bottom of the pot.

For corn muffins I always use Aunt Jemima's recipe on the back of her corn meal. I never add the sugar.

Happy fall stewing!