Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving! Here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for this year. I also included a little pre-Thanksgiving recipe. I hope you have a terrific holiday!



5. Music. Yes, even us top-40 radio-listeners can appreciate music. So thank you to all of the girls and boys with guitars and pianos who make me sing squeak along like I'm on American Idol. (I like Adele when I'm feeling contemplative.)

4. My job. Teaching has got to be one of the best professions in the world. I got really frustrated this year because it seems like the media just can't get enough of bashing teaching and American education. But policies and politicians don't make up education, teachers and kids do. I am so lucky that my classes are full of kids who are thoughtful, intelligent, curious, and creative. Teaching is the most fun job out there. Where else do you have a group of 30 people all together in a room with the sole purpose of learning, discovering, and exploring?  We can joke, we can laugh at ourselves, we can connect music and film to literature, we can talk about our favorite books, we can debate and give our opinions, learn our strengths and work on our weaknesses. I mean, last week a student gave a persuasive speech about the Zombie Apocalypse. He brought in props, threw his papers on the ground, and banged his fist on the podium in a passionate fit! Afterwards, the students broke into spontaneous applause. It was incredible!

 3. The precious pups. Even though they eat my books, pee on the throw rugs, and bark all night, all of those things are worth it for the endless love they give. They are so hilariously entertaining and cuddly.

 2. My family. Especially my sister for getting home from college in one piece! She rented a car and drove herself 10 hours through the middle of the night and the rain to get home for Thanksgiving. Sarah, you rock! And I'm glad you are finally home.

1. No Thanksgiving list is complete without being thankful for the impending feast! I'm thankful that I finally got around to making this Turkey Roulade after not getting up the motivation to do it  last year. It was fun and not even too difficult (although I did cheat a bit.) Here is the end result. If you want to see the steps on how I put it together, I've included ten-thousand pictures and a bit of instruction below.

Here's the whole process from the beginning, if you're interested!


 Greg and I bought this almost-two-pound Turkey breast at the grocery store on Saturday.

Scarily, it still had bones in it. I had not idea what to do, so I just felt around for where I could feel all of the bones connecting, wielded my knife and cut.

I made have cut a tiny bit more than needed on the end, but I still had plenty of meat left, so I figured I could make it work. 

I then had to "butterfly" the breast myself, which I didn't really do too prettily, but after I flattened the breast with a crab mallet, I doubt you would have been able to see that handiwork anyway.

Then I chopped some walnuts (about a 1/4 cup) and toasted them in my toaster oven.

 I sauteed 1/4 of a medium diced onion, garlic, and eventually the walnuts and craisins in 1 tablespoon of hot Canola oil. The recipe I was using called for making my own stuffing, but I just made a 3 minute box of Stovetop (I've got to save myself something to do next year!) 2 cups of the cooked stuffing also went into the pan. I also poured about 1/3 of a cup of chicken broth to the steaming pan so the stuffing didn't stick to the bottom and to moisten the mixture. You don't want it too moist because the Turkey lets out moisture while it's cooking.

 Then I spread the stuffing mixture onto the tukey that I salted and peppered on both sides. Then I rolled that sucker up nice and tight. Thanks to Greg for getting the kitchen twine at the very last second! He was pulling into the driveway with it as I was rolling!

Then I browned the Turkey on all sides in my dutch oven in about  tablespoon of canola oil.

 Then I added 1/2  cup of chicken broth and put the lid on tightly.I cooked it for about 30 minutes on medium because my turkey was not even two pounds before I removed the skin and bones.  For a breast of 2 1/2 pounds, the recipe recommended 60-65 minutes.

The recipe told me to "tent" the turkey while I made the gravy. I figured this is what it meant. For the gravy I added 1 cup of apple cider, another 1/2 cup of chicken broth, and 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. It also said to add 1 tsp of dried sage, but I didn't have any. Then I let it boil for 10 minutes to reduce by a third. Then I added  slurry which was 1 tablespoon of cold water mixed with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. This thickens the gravy just enough. It is not supposed to be too thick though.

I was in a lot of anticipation when Greg cut her open. Would it be done? Would it be overdone? Would it have the circular effect that I was going for?

Just perfect! Woo Hoo!

This by no means would have fed a whole family but it was perfect for us, with some leftovers to spare.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Can You Taste Love Tonight?

 Whenever I have watched any of those cooking shows, I've always been confused when the judges say that they can taste the love/passion/desire (or any other emotion)  in the dish that they're eating. How can you taste love? Or passion? Or desire? Are you sure it just isn't just the combination of flavors that come together to create a perfect symphony of delight? (Or something metaphorical like that). Well, after making this dish last night, I could taste a little something extra. Maybe it was the time I took to season everything just right, or let the apples simmer for the perfect amount of time? I don't know. Maybe it was love, or fun, or excitement, but whatever it was, it was delicious!
 

First I cut up a large crisp Fuji apple (my favorite). In a bowl, I mixed together pinches of brown sugar, white granulated sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon and swirled the apples around in that dry mixture of deliciousness so they were coated on all sides. Meanwhile, I heated a pan with a 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Then I threw the apple slices in. What I wanted was for all of the juices to run out and thicken (I think this is called reducing?) and the apples to tenderize and caramelize. All of those things happened. Hallelujah! Eventually, I noticed that the juice was beginning to evaporate too much, so I added about a 1/4 cup of water, turned the heat down to medium/low and covered the pan to let the magic happen, meaning I let the apples simmer for about 30 mins.

Here are the apples simmering. This is the largest lid I have. Classy, huh?

While the apples were simmering, I seasoned the chops. I sprinkled them with salt, pepper, a teeny tiny bit of cinnamon, and finally, cayenne pepper. Surprised? It was a last second decision that I definitely did not regret. I'll tell you why in a minute

Here are the softening apples in the juice. After they were done cooking, I took out the apple slices and thickened the juice with a tiny bit of flour and heat. I poured the rest of the reduction into a bowl, scraping the edges for any dried bits of apple or leftover spice. I was going to put the chops in this pan next, so I didn't want much liquid or chunks leftover.

Before putting the chops into the pan, I dried them on a paper towel, so they would brown properly.

They browned up nicely. 

I let the meat rest for a few moments after plating them. Then I added some apples and some of the juice on top.

After cooking the pork chops, the drippings from the pan were so flavorful! When I mixed a bit of the drippings with the apple reduction, it was like I hit the jackpot! The combination of salty pork and sweet apples, mixed with a tiny bit of cayenne pepper was to die for. The mashed potatoes would have been insulted to have been called a side dish with that combination of juices drizzled on top.

I am so exited to eat the leftovers! I was sure to save myself a perfect lunch-sized portion. 

This is Day One of my Thanksgiving-themed meals. I hope to show you one or two more before T-Day. Tonight I'm making my special pre-Thanksgiving meal. (The one I've never tried before). Tomorrow, my main focus is making an apple pie. It is my first one of the season, so I hope it turns out alright! Thanks for reading my thoughts about food!



P.S. Here's a random side note that has nothing to do with food, but a lot to do with love and happy Thanksgiving-ish- type feelings...Check out this cute video by a band called Real Estate. I was about 45 seconds in when I realized that the band name is Real Estate and that this is not a commercial for a Realtor or home owners insurance... Dog Lovers Enjoy!

What I've Been Up To

Here's what I've been up to this fall so far.

 Cutting mums from my garden to brighten up the house.

Celebrating our 2nd anniversary with homemade dinner and hydrangeas, the flowers we had at our wedding. 

 Going on a DC date with the hubs to see a great friend.

Putting together fall-inspired arrangements using scrapbook paper in some frames, putting oats (actually oatmeal if we're keeping it real here) in a little jar, and lighting pumpkin spice candles. 

 

 

Setting up fall place-settings with overpriced (but kinda worth it) napkin rings from Pottery Barn. Spray-painting pumpkins white and blue to match my color-scheme and displaying them on a cake plate.

 
 

Hiking with the family on a Friday off.  (Poor Rylee)

Eating a ton of hot crunchy bread, making butternut squash soup, and baking soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. 

Celebrating Halloween.

And lastly, making up my own recipe (which I'll post sometime in the near-future).

What a fun and yummy fall! I can't wait to make a few pre-Thanksgiving meals this week, one of which I have never tried and will be sure to show you (either with failure or success). For Turkey-day Greg's parents invited my entire family to their house for a huge dinner. I'm so excited to see everyone together (except mom, who has to work, boo!) We'll be sure to make her a plate with lots of goodies. I am most excited for Greg's mom's pumpkin chiffon pie and for cranberry sauce. I love the kind that comes out in the shape of a can! Is that weird?

Thanks for reading my thoughts about food and fun this fall!