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Monday, December 31, 2012

Christmas, Journeys, and Coming Home ...

This was our last Christmas in our townhouse.  A home where we became a couple, and then parents.  The only home Walter has known.  It's been a wonderful home, full of much joy and happiness.  We'll miss it, but we're also excited about our next home.

Christmas Day was spent at home, with my Mom staying with us to help us celebrate. Walter counted 24 presents with his name on them (!!) ... all were opened and examined in under an hour. He's fast!


I brined our 10-lb turkey the night before after reading so many blogs and articles discussing this technique.  It was so easy to do and tasted incredible. 

Recipe:  24 cups of water, 1 1/2 cups honey, 1 cup coarse salt, 3/4 cup brown sugar, many sprigs of fresh rosemary from our garden, 1 whole garlic bulb peeled and cut into chunks.  All this placed in a big pot to simmer until the salt and sugar had dissolved and blended.  I set it on our outside porch with the lid on to cool in the winter air.  In the meantime I got out a mid-sized cooler and placed ice in bags on the bottom.  Got the turkey out, removing the gizzards and neck (which I used to make gravy).  I placed the turkey in a medium sized clean garbage bag in the cooler and poured the brine in.  I tied it loosely.  Put more ice over, and weighed it all down with several gel ice packs.  I then placed the cooler in our frigidly cold garage overnight.  On Christmas Day I turned the oven on just before 2 PM to 325F.  While the oven warmed up I drained the turkey, wiped it down with paper towels to dry it, and placed it in a large KitchenAid enamel double roaster (that we had purchased a few days ago for $39 - regularly $140).  I melted 1 cup of unsalted butter and brushed it all over the turkey, put the lid on, and placed it in the oven for 2 1/4 hours.  At that point we removed the lid, basted the turkey with the pan drippings and let it continue to roast for 30 minutes.  Then it was out of the oven, lid on to rest, while the rest of the dinner was prepped.

On Boxing Day we headed to the interior to have a few days visit with Manuel's Mom in the Okanagan.  The Hope-Princeton Highway was a bit slushy and slick at times, but our good old Chevy 4x4 K2500 Silverado had no problems getting us there and back.


The drive home was stunning - full of sunshine on fresh, crisp snow.





Now, on New Year's Eve we're home, resting ... before the weekend comes and we start packing!

Happy New Year to everyone - may the coming year bring you much joy and happiness.

1 comment:

  1. Happy Happy New Year to you! It sounds like a year full of exciting changes!

    blessings,
    karianne

    ReplyDelete