Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What? You think this house is perfection? Think again. This is the kitchen table, not the dining room table a few years ago. We were having a quiet dinner with Rob's mom , so thought the breakfast room would be lovely. Mickey thought that was a brilliant idea too! That's him on his dad's plate!!!

I have to tell you something so funny, I'm here because of course I love all of you and want to say hello, but also because I'm cooking a turkey and my wait on Butterball for a "Home Economist" was so freakin' long I couldn't stand it another minute, so thought I'd share the joy. Yes, I'm cooking a turkey. I told Rob years ago, "This is my last one!" And I meant it. Then we adopted T-Bone and he had allergies. He eats lots of ground turkey and guess what? I was fortunate enough to find LOTS of whole turkey on sale this year so bought something like 5!!! With ground turkey hovering around $6/lb, a thirteen to fifteen pound beauty sounded like a bargin. Hummmmmmmm. It's a lot of work to empty my refrigerator of all that dead fowl. So today of course I was just planning to prepare one for T-Bone, but ended up preparing it for the whole family. Why? Because I'm a moron and because I have beautiful memories of Thanksgiving.

I had the time calculated perfectly: start at 450, go to 350 immediately, she's stuffed, she weights 13.54 lbs, so that means she'll cook for.................? She'll cook for, what? I don't know! What will she cook for? I can't find that little scrap of paper I wrote all the info on under all the crap on the counters that seems to have accumulated since returning from the park. Hummmmmmm. What's a gal to do? Go back to "The Joy of Sex," I mean "Cooking," or to The Food Network and recalculate all the numbers, or just call the 800 number for Butterball, even though my cheap hens wouldn't have met Butterball's standards. Yup, called Butterball!!! One problem. Everyone's calling Butterball. And yes, I'm aware that I should know the internal temp when roasting a stuffed turkey. Unfortunately the one recommended by The Food Network and my instant read thermometer are different and I had TFN's written on my little slip of paper. So here I sit on my blog because I don't feel like going back to The Food Network and doing it all again. I'm tired after making so many side dishes and cleaning up a gazillions times (oh, and I still have to make a Pumpkin Cheesecake (but it's pretty simple). Okay, I'm off. Wish me luck!

Love you all and Happy Thanksgiving.

XO Suze

P.S. I didn't have time to read previous comment or visit favorite blogs the past few days, but will and promise to say "Hey," so look for God sakes!!!

13 comments:

just bob said...

180-degrees internal temperature for stuffed turkeys!

Happy T-day Blottie!!!

krystyna said...

Good to see what are you doing?
This pic is awesome.
Mickey is so cute.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Night!

Suzanne said...

HAPPY T-DAY TO YOU TOO BLOTTIE'S BABE!!!

I'm here because if I don't sit here for a few minutes I'm going to find a gun (I'm anti-gun), and shoot myself (I don't advocate murder). The Food Network recommends 160-degrees, everyone else 165-degrees. Bob, you eat real food, I'm going to go with your number, 180-degrees and I'll tell you why. I say cook the crap out of that poor little sucker because even if the white meat is dry, the rest of it should be good to go.

All my work, all my exhausting, exhausting, exhausting effort and what do I discover? Bloody juice and red meat on the lover half after removing the stuffing and carving. I thought I would die. I decided to take it out of the oven between 160-165 degrees and let it rest a half hour as the experts suggest (because it continues to cook...apparently).

Okay, so no turkey. Okay, so no Pumkin Cheesecake because the turkey took so damn long. Okay, side dishes. Okay, so we had a beautiful vegetarian meal!!! Right up my alley. I've done lots of clean up, but so much more to go. I'm wondering if I should adopt my younger sister's philosophy. She's a wonerful hostess and every year puts on the most amazing dinner for the family on the east coast. And I mean amazing. I called her a few years ago the day after the party and she said, and I quote, "Oh, it was terrific. Everyone had such a wonderful time and my food was delicious (she's such a hoot), but when it was over, for the first time I was absolutely exhausted. I looked at the mess and said "Ahhhhhhhh, screw it, I'll face it in the morning." And I went to bed." I thought that was so funny Well that's how I feel. I don't want to attend to another thing. I'm too tired. But that's not me, so I'll get my tired ass up off this chair, fix the rest of the crap in the kitchen, make sure the kitties are well taken care of, finish the freakin' laundry, tuck everyone in, adjust my nightie and go to bed.

But I'm going to tell you something. The other two turkeys in the frig? I'm donating them to charity. I'll pay $6/pound for ground turkey for T-Bone. If you factor in the cost of my donations and my losses, I'm closer to paying $9-$10/lb for about 6 months of ground turkey!!! Hey, that's not funny! But it's a turkey's revenge. And that's a good thing. You may think I've never cooked a good turkey. Trust me, I have, but hated every minute of it. Now I can officially say "I'm retired." *T-Bone buries head in pillow and puts paws over ears.*

Gotta go. Kitchen duty calling. If only I could hang my head, wear a lot of black, stand on a bridge and have a lot of orange hanging over me, life would be perfect! Oh, but I'd need a cup of good coffee too.

What?

Love, Blottie!!!

Walker said...

Micjkey got to the plate before the turkey did.
Happy Thanksgiving

Suzanne said...

Krystyna ~ Mickey is a pretty amazing kitty. Rob saw him and said "Honey, I think I might need a new napkin." I informed him they were antiques, and although I'd started with 4, only had three. I asked if he's like another cloth napkin or a paper towel. He said, "Nope, I'll share Mickey's." And that's my life is a nutshell!!! Honestly, it's one of my favorite photos of Mickey because it's him. He's so funny and so beautiful.

Happy Thanksgiving darling. It's funny, I actually though of you today as I was wresting with my turkey. I laughed because I knew you would be laughing because you know I would never wrestle with a turkey!!! That's it, I'm done. Read Just Bob's to learn the truth!!!

Honey, I know this has nothing to do with Thanksgiving or turkeys (poor things), but I'm trying a more holistic approach to fea and tic care for my kitties and dog because I'm spending thousands and thousands of dollars on FrontLine and have developed flea and tape worm problems. I called the Vet's office the other day to discuss it and was told, "So many clients don't think FrontLine works." (Thanks for telling me that 2 years ago and a few thousand dollars later!!!). I was in WalMart the other day and notice a product for both dogs and cats. I read the labels and bought both. Three applications for around $9 an completely pet, people an planet friendly. I've applied it to one cat and one dog today and the scent in unbelievable (5 or 6 essential oils! Wow...wee!!!), so think it should only be applied to one pet at a time, wih few days inbetween)

Suzanne said...

Krystyna,

So sorry, got distracted because my kitty Maestro butt was on the key board and pushing him off, somehow, just exited Blogger. Sorry about that.

Love you honey and thanks for the comment. I'll keep you informed about this because if it works your blog is the perfect place to discuss it. I pay almost $100 for six months of flea med for one kitty (and you almost know how many I have)!!! That's insane. And for that kitty to still have fleas AND need expensive worm medicine because of fleas is absolutely unacceptable. I was going to go back to using the other expensive one, but decided to think outside the box. Give me a few months to test the results and I'll let you know what I think. The product is made up of various essential oils, so you can only imagine what our house smells like!!! Wow (honestly, I never had a flea on me, but I'm now confident if I did, it's gone!!!)!!! Wow!!! That's some powerful stuff. I'll observe how long the scent takes to go away. I think it should be applied to only one pet/month. I have more that 12 cats. I'm so screwed!

I'll keep you informed darling because if it works I'd love others with fleas to know. The cost is stupid/funny and it's right at WalMart. And I'm not a huge fan of WalMart. Well, unless they help my animals! Seriously!

Love seeing you here darling. Thanks for your support and love, and thanks too for appreciating Mickey. He's a gem!

Love to you and your family,
Suze XOXOXOXOXO!

P.S. Honey I'm too tired to proof read. If you find anything yucky, please inform the management. "Bob, you out there!!!"

Suzanne said...

Walker,

Yup, and you got to the booze before your brain did. It's MICKEY you sweet soul you!!! Need a hug honey? Hard day? Want a little more turkey? Some cranberry sauce? How about a little potatoes with gravy? Oh right, you're in Canada freezing your b**** off. Guess you don't really need an American holiday to rub it in. Guess what? My roses are still blooming. The grass is still green. The leaves are barely off the trees. What? That should do it!!!

Hi honey!!! I'll visit as soon as I find the time. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Why don't you tell us all, Mr. Science, how you celebrated this wonderful holiday?

;) Suze XO

Megan said...

I just got home and I know you won't approve but I am so stuffed full of turkey right now. In fact, I was so stuffed I couldn't eat any pie! Tragedy!!!

Happy Thanksgiving dear darling Blottie!

Kookaburra said...

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Maithri said...

Wishin you a beautiful thanksgiving my friend,

We dont celebrate it here, but its the kind of spirit that should be taken into every day...

Much love to you and Rob and the circle that surrounds you,

M

Gig said...

Hi Blottie,
Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!

Sorry about your turkey, hope your weekend is better!!

Take care,
Gig, xoxo

Skeeter said...

Hi Suzanne,

You're beautiful dear. Thanks for your note. It means a lot to me. I really appreciate your encouragement.

This is such a great image!

Best wishes,

Skeeter

Kookaburra said...

Hey Suze,
I have just read your beautiful comment to SKEETER on his Blog. I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks, you're 'one in a million'. I hope that you and Rob had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Love to you both and also the kitties.
M xo xo
p.s I will update my links for you.