Here is this year's final menu. In my efforts to have teh oerfect bird I am still trying new recipes. This year we are trying the Pioneer Woman's brine and roasting techniques. I'll let you know how they turn out. I'll have to post pics later as I have not made these yet. I am also going to make carmel apples and use them as placecards. It should be fun. Yum!
Thanksgiving 2011 Menu
Artichoke Dip & Chips
Carmel Apples
Turkey
Rolls
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Company Carrots
Roasted Yams
Broccoli
Corn
Cranberry Sauce
Dressing
Apple Pie
Razzleberry Pie
Vanilla Ice Cream
My Favorite Turkey Brine
Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 18
Ingredients
3 cups Apple Juice Or Apple Cider
2 gallons Cold Water
4 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary Leaves
5 cloves Garlic, Minced
1-1/2 cup Kosher Salt
2 cups Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons Peppercorns
5 whole Bay Leaves
Peel Of Three Large Oranges
Preparation Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Stir until salt and sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat and cover.
Allow to cool completely, then pour into a large brining bag or pot. Place uncooked turkey in brine solution, then refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.
When ready to roast turkey, remove turkey from brine. Submerge turkey in a pot or sink of fresh, cold water. Allow to sit in clean water for 15 minutes to remove excess salt from the outside.
Discard brine. Remove turkey from clean water, pat dry, and cook according to your normal roasting method.
Recipe: Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey
Prep Time: 18 Hours Cook Time: 3 Hours Difficulty: Easy Servings: 12
Ingredients
1 whole Fresh Turkey (I Use A 20-lb. Turkey)
Preparation Instructions
Rinse the turkey thoroughly with cold water. Place the turkey into a large brining bag and place in the fridge for 16-24 hours and let it work its magic.
After the turkey has slurped up all of the wonderful flavor of the brine for 16-24 hours remove it from the brining bag and rinse the turkey thoroughly again inside and out.
Now tuck the legs and wings however you like to tuck them and place bird, breast side up on a rack in a large roasting pan. Cover the turkey tightly with heavy-duty foil. Make sure it is entirely covered (cover over the bottom edges of the pan. Place in a pre-heated 275 degree oven and walk away. The rule of thumb now is to roast the turkey at 275 degrees for about 10 minutes per pound. So for a 20-pound turkey, roast it at 275 degrees for about 3 ½ hours. (For a 15-pound turkey, roast it for 2 ½ hours.) Note: there’ll still be more cooking time after this, but it’ll be at a different temperature).
When it’s time to remove the turkey from the oven, melt one stick of butter in a bowl. Remove the turkey from the oven and increase the temperature to 375 degrees. Remove the aluminum foil and set aside. Brush 1/3 of the butter all over the skin of the turkey. Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh, near the hip joint. Place the turkey uncovered back into the oven. Continue roasting the turkey, basting with butter every 30 minutes until the thermometer registers 170 degrees and until the juices are no longer pink.
Remove from oven, cover with foil until you are ready to serve it.
Turkey Dressing
1 Dressing package like Mrs. Cubbins or Pepperidge Farms
1 Package Sausage (sage flavor if available)
I stick of butter
1 onion
1-2 Chopped apples
Sage to taste
2-3 cans Chicken broth as needed
Cook onions in butter until soft and pour over dressing mix and apples. Cook and add sausage. Pour broth over as needed and add sage as desired. I like to use A LOT! Bake for 20-30 min (just until warm) at 375.
Company Carrots
6 large carrots
1 Tbsp. grated onion
Small bunch of parsley chopped (about a 1/2 cup)
3 Tbsp. horseradish (I tend to use a bit more)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. each of pepper and salt
1/4 cup carrot water (reserved from cooking carrots)
Peel and chop carrots; cook until tender, reserving water. In a baking dish combine the other ingredients; stir in carrots. Top with mixture of 2 Tbsp. melted butter and 1/4 bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes at 375°F
Cranberry Sauce
2-3 cups cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1 cup sugar
apple chopped (optional)
Grated orange peel
½ to 1 tsp allspice
cinnamon to taste
½ tsp orange extract (optional)
Cook in saucepan over med low heat for 25 minutes
Artichoke Dip
1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 can (14 to 15 oz) artichoke hearts, drained, cut into small pieces
1 4 oz can green chilis
Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix all ingredients in ungreased 1-quart casserole. Cover and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until hot.
Amazing -out of this world-melt in your mouth-make you wanna slap your mama rolls!
2 TBS yeast (SAF is the best and the only yeast I use)
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 cup hot water or milk (I only use water)
3 eggs (egg substitute works just as well)
5 cups of flour (I usually need an extra half cup, but be careful too much flour = heavy rolls. Been there done that!)
Dissolve yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 5 minutes. I usually measure the yeast into a bowl and then add the water. Cream together butter and sugar. Add salt, hot water and eggs, Mix well. Add 2 1/2 cups of flour and yeast mixture. Mix until batter is smooth. Add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until it forms a soft dough. It may take more or less than 5 cups. Allow dough to rise until double in size, about an hour. I also cover the dough with a towel or flour sack cloth. Punch down dough and roll out. Cut into strips and tie knots out of each strip. You can actually form the rolls into crescents or any other shape you choose. Knots are easiest for me. Place on greased cookie sheet and brush each roll with melted butter. Allow to raise, usually another hour. Bake at 375 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. When you remove from oven, brush again with melted butter. Makes about 24 rolls. Double this for larger crowds.
Roasted Yams
1 large yam, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet or shallow baking dish with aluminum foil. Arrange slices of potato in the prepared pan so they are overlapping slightly. Season with salt and pepper and then drizzle olive oil over them as evenly as possible. Bake in the preheated oven until potatoes are tender and have begun to wrinkle around the edges, about 30 minutes
Pie Crust (I use this crust for all pies I bake)
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ cup chilled butter
1/3 cup frozen shortening
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg beaten
1 tsp white vinegar
2 tbs ice water
Combine flour and salt, cut in butter and shortening. Stir in sugar, egg and vinegar. Mix in just enough ice water. Chill for 4 hours in plastic wrap or freezer for ½ hour. Split dough in half and place one half back in fridge. Roll out one half of dough and place in pie dish. Quickly add filling and then roll our top crust and place on top of pie. Brush top of pie with 1 egg beaten with 2tbs water and sprinkle with sugar. I like to use large grain sugar, you can purchase at Spoons n' Spice or from The Bakers Catalog.
RazzleBerry Pie
1 bag frozen raspberries (fresh when in season)
1 bag frozen blackberries
2/3 cup sugar (more if you like sweeter pie)
4 TBSP flour (more if berries and juice look thin)
Thaw fruit almost completely and drain juice through colander. In a large bowl mix fruit, sugar and flour together and pour over bottom crust in pie dish. Add top crust and pinch together. Brush top crust with egg and sprinkle with sugar Cover edges with foil or pie crust protector. Bake for 30 minute at 400 degrees remove foil and bake additional 10 minutes until crust is brown
Apple Pie
Filling
2/3 cups dark brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
¼ cup lemon juice
1 TBS vanilla
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
4 lbs tart green apples
¼ cup butter
Streusel
¾ cup flour
4 ½ TBS sugar
2 TBS butter
3 1.4 oz skor/heath bars
Combine first seven ingredients. Add apples and toss to coat. Cook on Med/high heat until softened (10 minutes). Place in pie shell. Sprinkle streusel over apples. Place top crust on top. Coat with egg mixture and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 350 for 55 minutes. You will want to place foil over the crust edged to prevent burning.
Meikle's in the news
OUr family had the unique opportunity to be featured in an articel in teh Salt Lake Tribune today. It was a crazy, but fun expereince.
The great benefits of gratitude for children
By Ben Fulton
The Salt Lake TribuneFirst published Nov 17 2011 01:01AMUpdated Nov 17, 2011 11:54AM
Whenever David Meikle thinks about the difficulties of the ongoing Great Recession, he thinks back to the words of his grandfather, who lived through the Great Depression.
"One time I said to him that times back then couldn’t have been so bad if people could still sell apples for a living," said Meikle, 42, a noted painter living in Salt Lake City. "He let me know in no uncertain terms just how bad things were in the 1930s, because he lost everything, then started all over again."
When Lacy Egbert, Meikle’s wife, gave birth prematurely to the couple’s third child in 2006, she remembers being envious of the woman in the hospital bed next to her. She was able to hold and nurse her baby, while Egbert’s was away in an intensive-care unit. When Egbert learned later that the woman’s child was born with far more complications than her own, she felt somewhat ashamed.
"I was the woman who should have been grateful," Egbert said. "It was a moment that really changed my outlook."
Combined with her husband’s recollection of his grandfather’s perseverance, it was also a moment that changed their family. After Sam, now 5, made it out of ICU and back into Egbert’s arms, the couple decided to make fostering a grateful attitude in their four children a priority.
Visit their household today, and you’ll see a "Grateful List" written in colored crayon on all their bedroom doors. The list of reasons to be grateful range from life’s necessities — "bed" and "family" come up for frequent mention — to the exotic — Daniel, 8, is partial to Pokémon. They even fall into the political realm, with 7-year-old Amelia grateful for President Barack Obama.
"[Being grateful] means being happy and loving for all that you have, and knowing that there’s nothing else you need," Amelia said.
Skeptics will no doubt scoff. The wisdom of a child, however, is backed by numerous studies linking better sleep and stress management, stronger relationships, less depression and fewer health problems to those who maintain an attitude of gratitude. And habits fostered early in life extend into adulthood.
A leading expert in the field known as "positive psychology," University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons penned an entire book on the subject in 2007, titled Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.
Rene J. Valles, a child psychiatrist with Valley Mental Health, said the link between gratitude and good overall health is solid.
"Just having a positive attitude in itself can improve not only children’s mental health, but also physical health," Valles said.
But don’t be too hard on yourself as a parent if your toddler or child doesn’t take to that sentiment right away. A self-centered orientation is a normal part of development, with abstract concepts such as thankfulness acquired in time as children age, Valles said. Starting early helps.
Being a role model is crucial. Saying "thank you" to your friends in conversation, showing appreciation for a meal, whether in prayer or compliments to the chef, and marveling at the beauty of a sunset are all behaviors your children will learn gratitude from far better than if you merely instruct or tell them. The old saw about spoiling your child applies, too.
"If children see parents who are materialistic, who must have the latest car or electronic equipment, that sends a mixed message of entitlement," Valles said. "There’s a tendency to undervalue objects when you have a lot of them."
A gratitude journal — similar to the bedroom-door lists of Egbert and Meikle’s children — goes a long way. So does talking about what happened during your child’s day.
"We go over everything that happened during their day," said Egbert, who works part time in marketing at the University of Utah. "From the good to the bad. But we always try to come back to the good so they can focus on a positive note."
These simple behaviors teach children to be grateful not only for what they have by sheer chance — being born inside the borders of a stable, modern and prosperous country that affords opportunity — but also for what others do for them.
Douglas Goldsmith, executive director of The Children’s Center and licensed child psychologist, urges parents to preface as many sentences as possible with the words, "How wonderful it is that ..." Fill in the blank, Goldsmith said, and you give a child a valuable perspective on life’s myriad gifts and wonders.
It’s no easy goal. In a consumer-driven world where even so-called adults have grown skeptical and angry over what they want or don’t have, it may even seem impossible. Those facts alone, Goldsmith said, make striving for gratitude all the more worthwhile.
"As soon as we say the word ‘gratitude,’ people roll their eyes," he said. "We should ask them what they’re rolling their eyes for. That we cannot remember why we should be grateful is probably how we’ve become so disappointed and disenfranchised as a society."
Egbert admits she struggles to be satisfied with all she has herself sometimes. She sometimes longs for the latest Apple product, and there are of course times when her children act up.
"I tell them, ‘You may not feel grateful now, but you will one day,’ " she said. "It never hurts to keep reminding them."
The great benefits of gratitude for children
By Ben Fulton
The Salt Lake TribuneFirst published Nov 17 2011 01:01AMUpdated Nov 17, 2011 11:54AM
Whenever David Meikle thinks about the difficulties of the ongoing Great Recession, he thinks back to the words of his grandfather, who lived through the Great Depression.
"One time I said to him that times back then couldn’t have been so bad if people could still sell apples for a living," said Meikle, 42, a noted painter living in Salt Lake City. "He let me know in no uncertain terms just how bad things were in the 1930s, because he lost everything, then started all over again."
When Lacy Egbert, Meikle’s wife, gave birth prematurely to the couple’s third child in 2006, she remembers being envious of the woman in the hospital bed next to her. She was able to hold and nurse her baby, while Egbert’s was away in an intensive-care unit. When Egbert learned later that the woman’s child was born with far more complications than her own, she felt somewhat ashamed.
"I was the woman who should have been grateful," Egbert said. "It was a moment that really changed my outlook."
Combined with her husband’s recollection of his grandfather’s perseverance, it was also a moment that changed their family. After Sam, now 5, made it out of ICU and back into Egbert’s arms, the couple decided to make fostering a grateful attitude in their four children a priority.
Visit their household today, and you’ll see a "Grateful List" written in colored crayon on all their bedroom doors. The list of reasons to be grateful range from life’s necessities — "bed" and "family" come up for frequent mention — to the exotic — Daniel, 8, is partial to Pokémon. They even fall into the political realm, with 7-year-old Amelia grateful for President Barack Obama.
"[Being grateful] means being happy and loving for all that you have, and knowing that there’s nothing else you need," Amelia said.
Skeptics will no doubt scoff. The wisdom of a child, however, is backed by numerous studies linking better sleep and stress management, stronger relationships, less depression and fewer health problems to those who maintain an attitude of gratitude. And habits fostered early in life extend into adulthood.
A leading expert in the field known as "positive psychology," University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons penned an entire book on the subject in 2007, titled Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.
Rene J. Valles, a child psychiatrist with Valley Mental Health, said the link between gratitude and good overall health is solid.
"Just having a positive attitude in itself can improve not only children’s mental health, but also physical health," Valles said.
But don’t be too hard on yourself as a parent if your toddler or child doesn’t take to that sentiment right away. A self-centered orientation is a normal part of development, with abstract concepts such as thankfulness acquired in time as children age, Valles said. Starting early helps.
Being a role model is crucial. Saying "thank you" to your friends in conversation, showing appreciation for a meal, whether in prayer or compliments to the chef, and marveling at the beauty of a sunset are all behaviors your children will learn gratitude from far better than if you merely instruct or tell them. The old saw about spoiling your child applies, too.
"If children see parents who are materialistic, who must have the latest car or electronic equipment, that sends a mixed message of entitlement," Valles said. "There’s a tendency to undervalue objects when you have a lot of them."
A gratitude journal — similar to the bedroom-door lists of Egbert and Meikle’s children — goes a long way. So does talking about what happened during your child’s day.
"We go over everything that happened during their day," said Egbert, who works part time in marketing at the University of Utah. "From the good to the bad. But we always try to come back to the good so they can focus on a positive note."
These simple behaviors teach children to be grateful not only for what they have by sheer chance — being born inside the borders of a stable, modern and prosperous country that affords opportunity — but also for what others do for them.
Douglas Goldsmith, executive director of The Children’s Center and licensed child psychologist, urges parents to preface as many sentences as possible with the words, "How wonderful it is that ..." Fill in the blank, Goldsmith said, and you give a child a valuable perspective on life’s myriad gifts and wonders.
It’s no easy goal. In a consumer-driven world where even so-called adults have grown skeptical and angry over what they want or don’t have, it may even seem impossible. Those facts alone, Goldsmith said, make striving for gratitude all the more worthwhile.
"As soon as we say the word ‘gratitude,’ people roll their eyes," he said. "We should ask them what they’re rolling their eyes for. That we cannot remember why we should be grateful is probably how we’ve become so disappointed and disenfranchised as a society."
Egbert admits she struggles to be satisfied with all she has herself sometimes. She sometimes longs for the latest Apple product, and there are of course times when her children act up.
"I tell them, ‘You may not feel grateful now, but you will one day,’ " she said. "It never hurts to keep reminding them."
Captain Rex
William enjoys Daniel's costume as much as Daniel does. I guess Star Wars fans are growing ever plenty in our house!
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