The One And Only Turkey

I thought I would add a picture of the turkey so everyone could see how it turns out with cheesecloth over the top. For a 29 lb bird it was really moist, sadly the leftover's are long gone. This baby cooked for 7 hours at 300 degree's. At the 6 1/2 hour mark I removed the cheese cloth to give the turkey it's lovely golden brown color. My very rough directions are Turkey Directions. I forgot to mention I remove the cheese cloth a 1/2 hour before the turkey is done in the previous post. I will have to up date it.. I really didn't have any other photo's as I was so busy cooking and visiting. I feel pretty lucky my Hubby snap a photo of the turkey!

The Nutcracker With Two Of My Favorite People In The World

Such a wonderful night at the Northwest Pacific Ballet's Nutcracker. It was a surprise and a early Christmas present for my wonderful daughter. Such a treat for my husband and my self as well. My husband and my self had both been up since 2:30am as we both work retail and boy where we tired. But that didn't stop us from having one of the best dates with our daughter. She is growing so fast and we try to make sure to do special things here and there for the kids. It was also a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season and set the mood. I hope everyone has a wonderful next couple of week's going through the holidays. I will try to be back on track for posting over the next few weeks. I have a wonderful recipe for hot spinach artichoke dip I can't wait to share.

Happy Thanksgiving And The Plan For My Turkey

    Sorry I have been out of touch! Last week my baby had a horrible ear infection, I fought a migraine for most of the week, our daughters pet bird passed on and well the list seemed to compound keeping me from having time to take pictures and post, but I did want to let everyone know before I kick into high gear with cooking over the next 3 days how thankful I am for everyone who takes time to read my blog and all the friends I have made! You are all amazing!

The second part of this post I thought I would talk about my mammoth free range turkey. Yesterday we headed out to pick up our turkey from the butchers only to be offered a 28.83 pound turkey. I had reserved a 26 pounder but my husbands face lit up like Christmas at the idea of this mammoth. So I agreed... My plan of attack for preparation will be to mix butter with some fresh sage, rosemary and thyme and rub all the buttery goodness up under the skin over the breast and the legs. Any leftover butter will then be distributed over the breast on the top of the bird. I then stuff the inside cavity with stuffing, but not packing the stuffing too tight and tie the legs and skewer the bottom. My secret weapon I have been using for the last 12 years is..... Should I really give it away is the question? Ok..Ok...I will... I soak cheesecloth ( folded until it covers the top of the turkey and tucking in the sides as needed) in butter, wine and chicken or turkey stock mixture and drape it over the turkey. It produces such moist breast meat it is incredible.  I pop it into a 300 degree oven and cook until the turkey is done, dependent on size. I baste every 20 minutes and remove the cheese cloth a 1/2 hour before the turkey is done. I always double check the thigh and stuffing temperature using an instant read thermometer, the thigh should register 180 to 185 degrees when done and the stuffing 165 degrees. I know not very fancy, no pictures and my explanations rather.. blah but I figure if anyone really has questions feel free to ask! I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and eats lots of yummy goodness! Hopefully I will be posting a little here and there as I go over the next few day.

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake With Toasted Pecan Graham Cracker Crust



This is another of my hubby's favorites, no bake pumpkin cheesecake. I am sure I have been making this for at least 10 years. It reminds me of pumpkin pie with whip cream folded in. It is fairly light but still rich. A small slice goes a long way, just a hint we had brought this to our life group for dessert and my hubby sliced big old manly man slices ( he likes to feed people). It was a bit too large! Keep them small.

On another note I was just curious how many of my friends out there remember how torturous middle school was? My daughter who's 11,  just started 6th grade. Well for me it has already been frustrating the stories she has came home with. To me she is an amazing  girl, very smart, bright and a very kind heart. I felt a slight sense of relief this last week as we went to parent teacher conferences and had a male teacher stand behind us to help put an end to the bullying. She also told one of the girls who has been so mean that "she is sorry for whatever you are going through but that doesn't make it ok to be mean to me".This has gone as far a 7th grade girl trying to punch her on the bus because my daughter  wouldn't move out of the seat she was sitting in but did offer for her to sit next to her. I cry sometimes because part of me would like to home school her but part of me knows this is only making her stronger and God only gives us what we can handle. So to get to my point of this part of the post ( that has nothing to do with luscious pumpkin cheesecake) is that this morning after having a fairly calm week no real bullying, a little boy had to go on to her you tube post (See old post here) and send a nasty message putting her down saying how she can't sing. So it left this mother infuriated! Not only do they feel they can pick on her at school but now they are trying to pick on her in my home! I will not let that happen. If anyone has any tried and true tips I would greatly appreciate it!

Ok so back to the cheesecake we were originally talking about before I went off on my tangent!

Roasted Cream Of Tomato Soup

It has become true soup weather here in the Northwest and I had a ton of tomatoes from the garden that had finally ripened. So tomato soup with hot ham and cheese subs with jalapenos it was! This soup is a thicker soup, I love to dip my sandwich. But if you prefer a thinner soup you could add a little bit of chicken stock or milk. This soup has texture and body, it's not like Campbell's but we love the fresh sweetness of the tomatoes as the flavor has condensed down from roasting. There is nothing quite like real cream of tomato soup. Give it a shot it is super easy!