Australia

When I was in grade school, our librarian read us the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  In it the main character, Alexander, has a bad day from a build up of small irritants like waking up with gum in his hair.  I fondly remember the line, “I’m having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day…I think that I’ll move to Australia.”  Possibly, because our librarian built a small fort with a beanbag inside that she referred to as Australia.  She encouraged us to visit Australia and read a book whenever we needed a break.

We have entered The Holiday Corridor where I count down the days to the New Year.  I do not bask in the holiday glow.  I want to, I really do.  But, Christmas stopped being a magical time for me when I was still a little girl and now I simply try to get through the season as gracefully as I can.

I stay busy and tackle fun new recipes like the Turducken.  Such a dreadful name, I prefer Debbie’s suggestion of Duckturken.  And today, I’m going to tackle the Cherpumple, a crazy compilation of three pies baked into three cakes that I hope to bring to the band booster party tomorrow night.  Fingers firmly crossed.  I’ve learned that you need to make your own Australia.   

P.S. Have a wonderful holiday season!

And if you struggle with the blues and winter sadness, please know that you are not alone.

By the Thousands

Two blocks North of our home sits a huge field complete with an irrigation ditch and a massive oak tree.  A bald eagle screams down it's blood curdling cry whenever I walk there and blue herons, cranes, and geese are frequent visitors.

Every summer, corn is grown in the field and is harvested in one fell swoop, possibly for the dairy across the street.

Three weeks ago, the tractors arrived and harvested the corn.  

The next day, Canadian Geese started gathering by the thousands for a giant jamboree. 

They mucked about in the muddy field nibbling on fallen corn kernels and chatted about life like a group of senior citizens with their hearing aids turned off.  

Whenever anyone came too close, they launched into the air with a collective thunder of wings and flew in a pulsating cloud while yelling at the intruder.

Then the temperature dropped one night to 24 degrees and locked the corn kernels in the frozen mud and the Canadian Geese flew over our house in massive screaming V's.  Barnaby and The Assistant barked out the back window at the passing birds.  And I felt winter arrive with their departure.  

Our Happy Little Graduate!

Barnaby passed his obedience test! (Phew) Now he knows the basics of obedience.  This week, we begin our intermediate classes.  Hooray!

Being obedient is exhausting work.

My First Turducken

Last fall, when I was reading The Essential New York Times Cookbook, I giggled when I read the Turducken recipe. A turkey stuffed with a duck and a chicken?  It struck me as monstrously excessive and I just knew that My Pirate would love it.  So, I showed him the recipe and he wanted to try it.  When we learned that My Kid and his lovely girlfriend would be joining us for Thanksgiving (hooray!) I decided to splurge on making a Turducken.

Now, I normally try to cook all new (to me) recipes for Thanksgiving, but this year I decided to go with all old comfy recipes and focus all of my energy on the Turducken.  I put a Papa Murphy's Cowboy pizza in the back fridge for a back up dinner, just in case we crashed and burned.  And I served My Pirate a glass of his kryptonite (rum and coke) before we started, because I didn't want to risk a visit from Super Charlie.

I purchased my free range turkey, chicken, and duck from New Seasons and they deboned them for no added cost.  Another reason to love New Seasons!  New Seasons sells assembled Turduckens, but I wanted the adventure of assembling our own.

The garden gnomes look skeptical at our bag of deboned turkey, duck, and chicken!

First, I made a savory batch of stuffing.  Then, we placed our largest cutting board beside the sink and Charlie assembled the Turducken while I took bad (sorry!) pictures and seasoned the different layers with salt, pepper, and cayenne. 

1.  Lay out the turkey.  Season it.

2.  Add a layer of stuffing.

3.  Add the duck and chicken and repeat the process.

Those garden gnomes are still looking skeptical.

Steel yarn needles work great at stitching up a Turducken!

4.  Stitch up the Turducken.  It takes two sets of hands to push the roast together and stitch it.  

We carefully placed the Turducken in the pan.  And I added a turkey lacer pin to help hold it together.   We refrigerated the Turducken over night.  Then I slid it into the oven early on Thanksgiving morning.

And it was done right on time!

I served the first course of Sweet Potato Jalapeño Soup, while the Turducken rested on the countertop under a foil tent for 30 minutes.  

Then My Pirate carved it while I made the gravy.  The Turducken gravy was the best batch of poultry gravy that I've ever made.  It was simply amazing!  My Pirate is hoarding the leftovers.  Seriously, he wouldn't send any home with My Kid.

Look at all those delicious layers!

My first Turducken was delicious, but it needs a few added tweaks.  I recommend brining all three birds overnight before assembling it and swaddling the skin in a layer of bacon or prosciutto.  Next time, I'll add a layer of blanched kale with each layer of stuffing.  And make a different stuffing for each layer.  

Here's the link to the recipe at the New York Times.  I enjoyed the adventure of making and serving our Turducken.  But, My (sweet) Kid said that he still prefers my roasted chicken. And I agree.  However, the memory of the amazing Turducken gravy will stay with me.  I wonder what we'll make next year for Thanksgiving.  Any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope that your day is filled with fun and delicious gravy.  

                                                                                    Our first Turducken.

We are making our first Turducken, a monstrous roast of deboned chicken and duck nestled inside a deboned turkey with loads of stuffing between the layers.  We might just crash and burn.  Papa Murphy's pizza is in the back fridge, just in case.  I'll let you know how it turns out.