The Goal

We have had our day of thanks, and all that went with it.  What a fantastic day it was!  It was a day to rejoice and endulge, while giving thanks to God for all of our blessings.  I LOVE Fall, I LOVE the season of thanks (harvesting)...but I think part of that love is due to the upcoming event (Christmas)
I have a tendency to decorate the house.....especially when seasons change or around holidays. 

Today, Gourdy took charge and the things of Fall began a transformation toward Christmas....

Last year she wore a santa hat.  One day I will tell you the story of Gourdy....but I think ChickoryBlossom can tell the tale better.  Gourdy was a gift from CB and I love this gourd. 

Okay so the Fall stuff is getting packed up to bring on Christmas and my house is a mess....

Bob is sorting lights...Grace helps by giving that dark background so that he can find the burned out bulbs...

I got the boot arrangement done (boots were a gift of CB a couple years ago)...

And this great vase I found at a thrift store this week......I got another arrangement done....

Fall and Thanksgiving are about earthly things given to us as blessings as a reward for our hard work.

Christmas is about the birth of Christ and His redeeming love by faith alone.

The Thanksgiving Feast!

What a great day of food and fellowship!

I pretty much stayed busy getting the food ready beginning at 5am.  I sorta had a plan for what time it would all come together but that got quickly changed when the big turkey was done way sooner than expected.....and the smoked turkey was way late.  Everything else in between went rather smoothly for this place!

The GREATEST part of the day is that I got to spend time with my dear friend Chickory Blossom....we even got our picture together!

Also great was that our youngest daughter Bekah and her sidekick Lisa came in the night before and stayed the night and through the meal.  It's great spending time together with them and was nice to have a full house.  Of course Levi has been here with us most of the week, and at one point yesterday we had all 4 kids under our roof again.....and I'm proud to announce that the house is still standing. 

Catey and Grandma watch nervously as our big TBird is brought out for carving.  Bob just doesn't know where to begin!

 

Meanwhile...have a look at the dessert table!  Pies, pies pies cookies greenstuff pies yummmm....

Here's the best shot of the food on the table.  We were all so hungry it went pretty fast....

From left to right in this picture is Catey, Grandma, Curtis, Stephanie, Lisa, and Bekah.....and food.



Here is Levi, Ben, Lisa, Terra, and Bekah....and more food

and the littlest member of the family......who managed to sleep through Thanksgiving Dinner......

Thanksgiving Day Eve!

Today our large turkey went into the brine.  This brine is a bit different than the one I use for smoking the bird.  For this brine I used:

• Peppercorns
• Whole sage
• Fennel seed
• Oregano
• Thyme
• Several sprigs of fresh Rosemary
• 2 gallons apple cider
• 2 gallons water
• 2 cups Kosher salt
• 2 cups Brown Sugar
• 2 oranges, quartered
• 2 lemons, quartered

For the brining container I am using a large ice chest.  It was a sqeeze to get him in there but it will work just fine.  Once the cool brine is poured over the bird, I weigh him down with bags of ice.

Today I also pulled the turkey that is to be smoked from it's brine and rinsed it well.  You want to get as many of the herbs and spices off as possible, plus make sure that it is rinsed of the salt completely.  Once rinsed and patted dry, he is retured to the brining bucket that is now full of apple cider.  He'll spend the afternoon in there before going into the smoker later this evening....

As for the fryer chicken and turkeys........they got the special treatment this morning....

That whole jar of injection sauce was put into the two birds.  The chicken on the left is a home grown bird....the turkey on the right will be our deep fried turkey.....

Here they are after injecting.  I also pour the sauce into the body cavity.  These guys will each be deep fried in the morning.
I have also assembled 2 pans of candied sweet potatoes, 1 with 1 without marshmellows.
Other things to do today...

• Assemble green bean casserole
• chop veggies for stuffing
• bread bread for stuffing
• boil eggs (for devilled eggs that I will make in the morning)
• Mom is making the pumpkin pies
• Make an apple pie
• Make green stuff
• Wash and iron the tablecloth
• Put leaves in the table
• Clear the buffet table
• Clean and sanitize the turkey fryer
• Chill the cranberry juice cocktail
• Put turkey into smoker

Our oldest son is back in town to celebrate with us....and it looks as if Bekah will be here as well!!  If Bekah is here there will be one mean lemon merengue pie on our dessert table for sure!!
I am getting excited about our friends and family coming together on this day of Thanks.  What a blessing!

Thanksgiving Prep Day 4

We had a big day today.  First thing we needed to do was get one of our store bought turkeys ready for brining and get it started.  We cook 3 turkeys on Thanksgiving Day, this particular bird is one that Bob will be smoking.  The brine I make for smoking a turkey is similar to the cure for making hams.  Here are the ingredients...

I make 2 gallons of brine...starting with 1 cup of salt and 1 1/2 cups brown sugar mixed with 2 gallons of water.  I put this on a low heat to dissolve the salt and sugar, then let it cool. 
In a food grade bucket I add a good handful of each:
peppercorns
oregano
thyme
orange peel
cloves
pickling spices
sage
basil
Then quarter 2 lemons and 2 oranges, throw in a few sprigs of rosemary...and you will have something that looks like this:

Once the liquid portion of the brine has cooled, pour it into the bucket and mix well.  Then submerge your turkey and use either a weighted plate or a water filled zippy bag to weight the bird and keep it submerged.  I usually put the bird in breast side down the first day, then tomorrow I'll flip it over.  Keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Next on the list for today was preparing our main turkey.  We've raised this one ourselves and he has been treated with every comfort needed to keep him happy....even on the long hot days this summer, when I would go out and give him a shower to help him through the heat.  He weighed in at 38 pounds this morning....

Due to his size, I could not fit him into my scalding tank.  I had to pluck him one small section at a time.  It was a chore indeed!  I am thankful that we were able to raise him.  I am thankful that he had a good life and a swift, humane death.  I am thankful that the hard part is done!  Look how great he looks now.

Judging by the thick layer of fat on his breast, he won't need much basting.....maybe just a bit of butter!  He will be our bird for roasting and stuffing.  Now THAT's a good looking turkey!

T-Day Prep Days 2 and 3

Our big feast preparations are coming right along.  Yesterday was day 2 of meal prep and I chose the best and biggest meat roo in our flock to be a table guest.  He looks quite cozy now...

And next it was time to make the cranberry sauce.  I make this early and can it so that we have some for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I have also pulled the 2 small turkeys from the freezer to begin defrosting.  One will be deep-fried and the other one smoked.

Today is our day of rest.  We're gonna need it!

Thanksgiving Prep Day 1

The menu is made, shopping list done......and as of right now I have finished the needed gathering of all things for the Thanksgiving Feast!  *whew* Now I don't have to leave the house before the big day!!

The only thing left on the prep list for today is cleaning the refrigerators.  No pictures of THAT today.....

But for your viewing pleasure....my darling able assistant....

Bring on the gravy!

Thanksgiving Countdown!

Today marks the beginning of our Thanksgiving meal preparation.  Well, I guess we actually began the meal early in the summer with the arrival of the big kahuna himself.....T-Bird:

But today we are working on the menu and shopping items.  Thanksgiving dinner is my favorite meal of the year...and I plant my garden in hopes of a lot of thanksgiving offerings at my table.  It is all about working hard and giving thanks to God for the blessings throughout the year.  This has been a difficult year indeed; but we have a LOT to be thankful for!  Our 'typical' menu consists of:

A roasted & stuffed Home-Raised Turkey
deep fried turkey
smoked turkey
deep fried home-grown chicken
no venison this year so perhaps a nice lamb roast
Traditional family stuffing recipe
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Home made dinner rolls
Green Bean Casserole
Carrots w/ butter
Home made cranberry sauce
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Greenstuff
Lemon Merangue Pie (pending the participation of my youngest daughter, this is always her dish to prepare)
Apple Pie

I know this is not a lean menu.  It is not supposed to be!  This meal represents an abundance of God's Great Blessings that He has bestowed on us throughout the year, and you can be assured that it will be a FEAST and open to all that care to join us!

Turn Over The Pantry Tuesday - the Meal

Here it is folks.....from these humble beginnings....

to a scrumptious dinner......every bit of it from the pantry....

Turn Over the Pantry Tuesdays - The Reason and Menu

As any of you that read my blog know, we are avid canners and processors.  We began our married life as homesteaders.....50 miles away from everything.  As a result, we needed to be sure to keep on hand anything we might need in an emergency.

Once we began having children, that need grew with each additional child.  Simple things, such as making sure you have extra batteries, flashlights, emergency candles, and alternative cooking methods are all very important.  Sometimes it's a simple rainstorm that knocks out electricity for a few hours....or something very serious like when Hurricane Rita knocked out power in our area for a week. 

If you are able to care for your family without leaving your house, then it eases the burden on the local authorities, decreases the number of unprepared folks hitting stores at the last minute for emergency items, and keeps your family safe from looters and such.  You can also have things on hand to give out to friends or neighbors that may have a need. 

The second reason for a well stocked pantry is that you can be sure of the ingredients when you process things yourself.  You know what is going into those jars or onto that dehydrator shelf.  It also saves money in the long run.  You can buy it on sale and then preserve it for later.  Personally, I have a lazy streak in me a mile wide and I figure if potatoes are on sale now for .39/lb......and the usual price is .89/lb.....I'm gonna get a years' worth canned and in my pantry.  That way I don't have to can potatoes until next year.

I've said all of this to introduce a weekly theme.  The most important step after doing your canning or bulk buying is to be sure that you rotate the food in your pantry!!  First in First OUT.  Never can or buy anything that you or your family won't eat...that is just money down the drain.  Can and buy only things that will be useful to you......and USE THEM!

Once a week I will post a menu and the results of our big meal of the day......prepared by using things only out of the pantry.  No other ingredients.  We try to use older things, or things with a short shelf life.  As a result it is very rare for us to have anything go bad in our pantry.

Today the menu is:
Meatloaf
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Biscuits
Green beans with sausage and onions
Orange Jello with chopped peaches

It's Baacon!

The last part of lamb butchering is now officially finished!  The bacon was removed during the butchering process and we spent last week curing the meat.

The meat finished in the cure and was ready for the smoker over the weekend....

It doesn't take too long in the smoker due to the fact that it is not nearly as thick as pork bacon....but the flavor is certainly there!

I wrapped them up and put them into the fridge overnight before slicing....

And I only made it through 3 of the slabs and stopped slicing.  I got HUNGRY!  Now that's a stack of baacon!

3 slabs done, 3 to go.  I wraped them in 8 oz portions....

Corned Beef Revisited

This time of year freezer space is prime real estate.  With all the butchering we do this time of year, plus holiday sales, or freezers fill up rather quickly.  Today I decided to can 3 of the corned beef briskets.  By canning them, I have meat ready to cook up at a moment's notice....plus I cleared some space for that 40 pound turkey that is destined to be on our Thanksgiving table. 
Each piece was about 3 pounds.....

Start by cutting them into manageable chunks....

Pack the chunks into sterilized jars to about 1" from the top....

Add enough water to cover the meat....

Cap the jars and process them in a pressure canner for 70 minutes.  When they are done you will have 10 of the ugliest pints of food you've ever seen in your life....but OH MY is it ever good!

Canning Ground Beef

One of our local grocery stores ran a sale this week on ground round.  Ground round happens to be an ideal ground meat for canning, so I took advantage of the sale and bought 12 packages....

Ground beef can be canned in many different ways.  I make and can meatloaf, meatballs, taco meat....but today I was canning just plain ground beef with no salt or seasonings.  When I open the jar I can use it for any dish that calls for ground beef and season it accordingly at that time.  The only other ingredient is water.

First I thoroughly brown and crumble the beef.....

Browned and crumbly is exactly how it will come out of the jar after processing....perfect for sprinkling on pizza, making burritos, tacos.....
Next you spoon the drained ground beef into jars.  I am using wide mouth pint jars for this, each one holds just over a pound of meat, perfect for a meal.

Use a spoon to pack them really tightly, the meat will shrink a bit when canning and you want to have really packed, full jars.

Then top the jars with boiling water, cap and seal the jars, and process in a pressure canner for 70 minutes according to your altitude instructions....Once processed I have 15 jars of ground beef on my shelf waiting...

Canned meat gives you a fast start to a quick meal.  Next week I'm planning to start "Turn it over Tuesdays".  On Tuesdays I will cook our main meal from the pantry only, to help explain the importance of keeping your pantry foods rotated.  We do this once a week, and I thought it might be interesting if I made it a weekly post.

A Need Fulfilled....

My mom does volunteer work at her church on Tuesday mornings....along with several other ladies.  One of the ladies mentioned needing to get rid of a bunch of canning jars.....

Well you can only imagine what happened next.......and I am now the grateful recipient of 118 pint jars!!!!

It was a need fulfilled because the stores around here are sold out of pint jars for the season.  Since our family has downsized, we need more pint jars than quarts.

What a blessing this was!  You can bet that I'll be making that dear lady a fine basket of goat milk soap, candles, and some dry mixes to show my appreciation!

Thank You, Lord....for our blessings!

Baaaacon day 2

Each day the bacon has to be turned and rotated before it is fully cured and ready for smoking.  You can already see big changes as the salt draws the moisture from the meat, and the meat begins to firm.  I rotate each piece of meat, flip it over and what was on top is now on the bottom. 

Baaaacon

The next part of processing the lambs is the making of the bacon.  We cut the belly meat from all 3 lambs, which yields 6 slabs of bacon, 10# 5 oz....

The first thing I did was trim off 5 oz of fat to make it an even 10#....much easier for calculating the cure.  We dry cure our bacon using pink salt, kosher salt, and brown sugar....

For 10 pounds of bacon we use 2 teaspoons pink salt...and one pound each brown sugar and kosher salt.  The dry cure MUST be thoroughly mixed to disperse all of the pink salt evenly.

Then the dry cure is rubbed evenly into each slab of meat.  You have to be sure and get into all the folds and on each of the ends to coat every inch of the meat....and use every speck of the cure.  Then the meat is placed in a non-metallic container, covered, and put into the fridge.  Every day I will rotate the slabs and be sure that the cure is evenly distributed.  It should be ready for smoking this weekend.

I'll follow up on this as it progresses....