First off though I have to say this post is a little long with a lot of reading.  But it is packed full with useful information and worth the read. 

Second, I have to apologize for my pictures.  My camera broke {the pics come out good for the top half but black on the  bottom.  Happens with both lenses.  Not sure why.  Anyone know about this?? }  so I had to take these pictures with my cell phone.  But the info is still useful. 

I made this the other night for my family and my brother and his wife.  As they were sitting down to seconds I overheard him say, “this is the best dinner I have ever had.”  I promise the extra steps are so worth it here. 

You need to start this the day before you want to cook your turkey.  First of all, get out your cooler {that’s right cooler}

You need a cooler that is big enough to fit your turkey.  Clean it well.  You are going to put food in this so make sure it is good and clean. 

To make your brining liquid, you are going to mix water with equal parts kosher salt and sugar.

The recipe is :

10 quarts of water

5 cups of salt

5 cups sugar

This made enough solution for my 23 lb. turkey. 

You can either use a quart jar and fill it up 10 times and dump it in the cooler.  Or I used my little handy dandy mug that I got from the hospital when I had my baby.

I LOVE these mugs.  Here you can see it has measurements up the side.  32 oz. is one quart.  So fill this one up 10 times and dump it in the cooler.  Then ad your sugar and salt.  Mix it up to dissolve the sugar and salt. 

Take your THAWED turkey and remove all the gizzards and pieces from the cavities. 

Then just put it down into the cooler.  Here comes the important part. 

You are going to let the turkey soak in this brining liquid for between 9 and 24 hrs.  But you want to make sure and avoid the Temperature Danger Zone.  This is a temperature range that you don’t want to have food sitting in.  It is between 41 and 140 degrees.  So basically stored food needs to be colder than 41 degrees {refrigerator or freezer} or hotter than 140 degrees {cooking}.  So while you are letting your turkey soak it needs to be less than 41 degrees.  It may be cold enough outside to put it in your garage overnight.  But it depends on where you live and the temperatures there.  If it’s not and you don’t have enough room in your fridge {I know I don’t}.  You can put some ice in with the turkey.  You want to make sure your ice is contained so that it doesn’t melt and dilute the brining solution.  You can use bagged ice.  Just leave it in the bag and make sure it doesn’t leak.  I used these ice packs we have. 

I threw a bunch of them in.  Whatever you use, just make sure you are careful to avoid that temperature danger zone.  If you have any questions feel free to Contact Me or look it up or ask someone.  This is a very important step and one you don’t want to guess on.  I don’t want anyone getting sick. 

Ok so after you have brined your turkey you can cook it like normal.  I have a little tip I learned from Alton Brown on the Food Network. 

Since we love moist dark meat and we love moist white meat, but we need to cook the dark meat to a higher temp. than the white, and we don’t want to dry out the white meat or under cook the dark meat, we have a problem.  {did you follow that LONG run on sentence?}

Enter the turkey triangle.

Take your foil and fold the top corners down into a triangle.  Then you need to form fit it to the turkey breast.  You want to do this before you put it in the oven [so it’s not hot when you go to fit it}

Just set it aside for later.  According to Alton, the way to cook the turkey is on the bottom rack of the oven.  Set to 500 degrees for a half hour{ I say between 400 and 500 depending on how hot your oven gets}.  Then put on the foil triangle and turn it down to 350 for the duration of cooking. 

And here is your finished product:

If you have never brined a bird before, you MUST try this!!  It will be the best turkey you have ever had.  And you will get so many compliments and yummy noises.  If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. 

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I am making the move to WordPress this weekend.  I am doing everything I can not to loose anything or anyone.  And I have a pretty good plan in mind.  I will write a tutorial when I am done if anyone is interested.  But in the mean time, if you come by and things are weird, come back please!!

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Is everyone enjoying our selection for September and October??  As a reminder, we are reading:

Sarah’s Key

by

Tatiana DeRosnay

This book is very powerful.  It is a story that stays with you.  I used to travel a lot and I would always go to the book store at the airport and get a book to read on my flights.  I picked this one up not knowing much about it and I finished it that trip.  I was so moved by this book.  I came home and immediately loaned it to my friend.  Basically made her read it because I wanted someone to talk to about it.  It is well worth your time to read it. 

I wanted to post a few discussion questions for those people that are done reading or have started.  I won’t give anything away.

. What did you know about France’s role in World War II—and the Vél d’Hiv round-up in particular—before reading Sarah’s Key? How did this book teach you about, or change your impression of, this important chapter in French history?

. Sarah’s Key is composed of two interweaving story lines: Sarah’s, in the past, and Julia’s quest in the present day. Discuss the structure and prose-style of each narrative. Did you enjoy the alternating stories and time-frames? What are the strengths or drawbacks of this format?

. Per above: Which “voice” did you prefer: Sarah’s or Julia’s? Why? Is one more or less authentic than the other? If you could meet either of the two characters, which one would you choose?

Let me know your thoughts.  Have you started or finished this book yet?  I am so looking forward to this discussion.  This book is one I think you will want to talk about.  I know I did.  Happy reading!!

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We have a winner!!  #47 Carrie Ardoin. 

You have won 5 sidebar titles for your blog!! 

Please check your email and respond to me. 

For those of you that didn’t win, don’t worry I will be hosting another blog bling giveaway shortly {maybe not until Nov. sorry}  But we will do it again.  So stay tuned!!

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I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger award from 2 blogs.

One of my favorite things about blogging is meeting such GREAT people.  And these two are no exception:  Alicia @ Little Sprinkles of Fun and Jen and Tonic.    I cannot say enough good things about these two.  And their blogs are brand spankin AWESOME!!

So Here’s what I love about this award, you are supposed to Thank the people who gave you the award, pick new people to receive the award and tell 7 things about yourself.  I love reading these posts cus you get to learn about the blogger.  Those are some of my favorite posts!!  So without further ado, here are the bloggers I am passing this award on to:

Em @ That Crafty Mrs. V

Phyrflie @ Faries n Flutterbys

These guys have amazing blogs too so go check them out.

Seven things you might not know about me:

1. I have not eaten a hamburger in 7 years.  In fact I have not had ground meat.  Ground beef, turkey, pork whatever.  Yuck!!  I hate that you can find things in it {you know what I mean}
2. I grew up in Germany.  I spent 4 years in Karlsruhe and I miss it a lot!! 
3. I am more of a warm colors person.  I know teal and turquoise are in right now but I love yellows and oranges and browns and reds.  It seems more warm and inviting to me.
4. I have the absolute best HUBBY ever!!  You may think you have the best but you would be wrong!!  I have never had to ask permission for anything or convince him to help with a project.  I read about some people begging for help or about their hubbs rolling eyes at their projects.  That is so not an issue for me.  Plus he does house work!!
5. I am way against putting down your family.  I hate seeing people calling their spouses stupid or saying their kids are brats. It makes me really sad.
6. I love to sing.  LOVE it!!  Unfortunately I am usually running around busy and don’t get a chance so I love long car rides where I can plug in my tunes.  I can usually be found driving down the freeway singing my head off.  So if you pass me just wave!! {I usually only sing in the car because even though I love it I am very self conscious}
7. I am addicted to traveling!!  One of my favorite places is Hawaii.  Something about the ocean calms me and makes me feel peaceful.  Thank goodness my family loves to travel with me!

So there you have it 7 things you may not have know about me.  Thanks for the award Alicia and Jen!!

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