Simplfying my life

Hi Everyone

I've decided to have one blog that celebrates all of the holidays and the joy of life. You can find me here
http://somewouldevensayitglows.blogspot.com/

The Crunch is on!

Well the grocery bill totaled $260 and that included the free turkey! Our bird is a little over 23lbs and has been defrosting in our 2nd refrigerator since Thursday. It should be ready by Wednesday to brine. If you didn't catch my earlier post on brining, I've copied the recipe below...

About 5 years ago while watching the Food Network, Alton Brown (as a matter of fact), brined a turkey. I found a great recipe and have used it ever since.
3 cups Kosher Salt
5 cups Sugar
2 medium onions chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 celery stalks
Wrap in cheese cloth:2 bay leaves3 sprigs thyme3 sprigs parsley2 tsp peppercorns
Boil 'til the sugar and salt are dissolved. Cool completely.

I use a 5gallon bucket lined with a brand new trash bag to hold the turkey and the brine. We have an extra fridge in the basement where I brine the turkey overnight. Rinse thoroughly, and stuff with your favorite stuffing and bake as usual. It is so moist and flavorful, it's unbelievable.

This is going to be a busy week, so if I don't get to chat with you, I wish you all wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Thankful and a Recipe

We have so much to be thankful for. Adam's 22 birthday was Friday and we celebrated with a family dinner at The Texas Roadhouse and a sour cream apple pie. The crust looks a little dark in the photo, but it wasn't it was perfect. The recipe follows.

The Recipe

Perfect Pie Crust:
Mix in a bowl with a spoon.

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• pinch of salt

Roll out between waxed paper. Makes (2) 8" crusts. (Do not double this recipe, make it again if you need additional crusts.) Refrigerate. You will only use 1 crust for this recipe.

Crumb Topping:

Mix in a bowl.

• 3 T soft butter
• 1/4 cup plus 2T sugar
• 1t sugar
• 2T flour

Refrigerate.

Filling:

Whisk together

• 1 1/3 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4t salt
• 2t vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 3T flour
• 5-6 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and sliced thinly)

Pour in shell and add topping. Bake @ 350degree oven 1- 1.25hrs. Cool Completely. Enjoy!!

More Fall Decorations

Can you believe these are the mums that I bought on my birthday (September 7)? I guess having them on the porch with indirect sunlight really kept them from flowering. But they are starting to come to life now.

I cut the hydrangeas this summer and just put them in a vase (without water), they dry perfectly. Isn't the blue color awesome?

Fall Decorating

I wanted to share some of my Fall/Thanksgiving decorating. I made these ceramic figures when the boys were small and through the years they seemed to have gotten some wear and tear.

I've changed my front door decoration to a wrought iron corn dryer with Indian corn that I keep from year to year. I store all of my decorations in plastic tubs so that the mice can't get to them.

Hot Spiked Cider

This is the alcoholic hot cider recipe that I talked about earlier:

Tie the following in a cheesecloth bag:

• 12 whole cloves
• 6 whole allspice
• 3 cinnamon sticks (broken up)
• 1tsp orange rind

Add spice bag to a large pot or crock pot with the following:

• 2 quarts cider
• 1 c orange juice
• 1 c cranberry juice cocktail
• 1 c pineapple juice
• 1/2 c dark rum
• 1/2 c apple brandy

Makes 8 cups. We usually double or triple this recipe. It's sooo yummy and warms the toes on a cold day.