Put all the ingredients into a blender. Make sure the lid is on! Blend on medium for at least 1 minute.
~Add cucumbers, zucchini, or celery to the shake too. Use your imagination – and the kiwi and apple make the drink nice and sweet and you can’t even taste all those vegetables! You’re welcome.
Here is the follow-up Video to Preparing Your Turkey Part 1. In this one, I try not to drop the turkey, try carving it for the first time, all while trying not to step on my parent’s dog. Let me know what you think!
Here are step-by-step instructions on how to prepare the Holiday turkey so that your family and guests think you are a Foodie Star. This was the first time I had ever cooked a holiday meal for my family ~ it was loads of fun and yes they Oohed and Aahed over my turkey!!
Every year my Nona makes the cranberry sauce for the Holidays. This year though, we won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving together. So I called her up and asked her for her cranberry recipe. She didn’t want to give it to me. It was a secret. Seriously. I had to ask her for over five minutes to tell me. She told me the recipe was handed down to her by her mother-in-law almost 50 years ago and if I was going to post it on that thing called the Internet I better give her credit. Yes, she is quite the character!!
What a gorgeous woman inside and out – Lola Trimmer
This is my Nona, Lola Trimmer’s Top Secret Cranberry Sauce Recipe… please don’t tell anybody! Shhhhh
Ingredients:
Don’t the grapes look so pretty!
Boil the water in a saucepan and then dissolve the sugar and Jell-O in it. Use the final container (my Nona says you should use the pretty one!) that will hold your cranberry sauce. To grind the cranberries, put them in the food processor and pulse them until they chopped up, but not pureed. Add the grinded cranberries, and the quartered grapes to it and mix well. Pour the Jell-O water mixture over the top of the cranberry mixture and stir well. Saran wrap the container and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
Drain the oranges and pat dry. Once the cranberry sauce is firm, place the oranges on the top in a creative pattern – she suggested a smiley face 
I am going to add fresh raspberries to mine. This recipe is super simple, but oh so delicious.
The cranberries in this pic still need to be decorated – trying to decide on what I want to do. Decisions, decisions.
Did you read Brine That Turkey! for my favorite brining recipe? You should! Brining helps make your bird moist and delicious. After you rinsed the turkey off and patted it dry, you are ready to make your guests Ooh and Ahh over your Thanksgiving Turkey.
Ingredients:
To make the basting mixture: In a sauce pan, melt 1 stick of butter. Then add in half of the bottle of wine, 1 tsp crushed garlic, 1.5 tsp onion powder. Mix over low heat until combined.
With the breast side up, bend the wing tips underneath the bird. If you are stuffing the bird with homemade stuffing do so now. If not, insert these ingredients into the cavity: Apple, half an onion, 1 garlic clove, a carrot, and celery stalk. On the bottom of the roasting pan, place the remaining carrots, celery, parsnips, turnips, onions, and garlic cloves. Rest the wire rack on top of the vegetables.
Flip the bird over and tie the legs with cotton twine to the tail. Make sure it is tight, but tie with a bow tie so it is easy to release later. Place the turkey on the wire rack inside the roaster.
Rub soft butter on the skin all over the turkey. Even rub the butter underneath the skin on the turkey breast. Affix the neck skin to the breast using a toothpick. Fold the cheesecloth so that it will fit over the turkey. Don’t cut it – use all of it. Dip the cheesecloth into the butter wine basting mixture then lay it on top of the turkey, breast side up.
Flip the bird so that the breast is facing down in the roaster.
Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn your oven down to 350 degrees for the remainder the of time. Baste every 30 min or at least once an hour. Halfway through the cooking time, turn the turkey over so it is breast side up. At this time, you will want to melt another stick of butter and add the remaining wine. Bake the turkey until it has an internal temperature of 180 degrees. During the last hour, you might have to put aluminum foil over the legs so they do not burn.
Yes. You need to brine your turkey before you put that bird into the oven. You do not want a dry, bland tasting meal – you want people to ooh and ahh over how moist and full of flavor the meat is. Here is my tried and true brining mixture. What exactly is bringing you may ask? The process of brining or soaking meat in a solution of water and salt, before cooking. Yes – it really is that simple. As it soaks, the meat absorbs the brine, then retains it during cooking.
Don’t forget to make sure your turkey is defrosted (remember it can take up to two days to defrost!) before you begin.
| Cold Water | Salt | Time | |
| Turkey 12-17 lbs | 2 gallons | 1 cups table salt or 1.5 cups Kosher salt |
6-12 hours |
| Turkey 18-24 lbs | 3 gallons | 1.5 cups table salt or 2.25 cups Kosher salt |
6-12 hours |
*Important to remember, cup for cup, table salt is stronger than Kosher salt. If you use Kosher salt in a brine, multiply the amount of salt called for by 1.5 times.
Mix these additional ingredients together until they are fully dissolved into the water:
Heat one gallon of water, pour in all of the ingredients including the salt, and stir thoroughly until the ingredients are completely dissolved. Refrigerate until the brine is cold. In the largest stock pot that you have or 5 gal pail, fill it with the brine mixture water. Put your turkey into your pot gently and add the rest of the water. Ensure that the breast it is fully submerged. The entire bird must be submerged for the full brining period. Refrigerate the bird for the recommended time.
Once the turkey has brined overnight, remove it from the brine, rinse it off, and pat it dry. You are now ready to prep your turkey for the oven. Need help getting it into the oven and onto the table? Ooh and Ahh Turkey
This is a reprint of the original blog posted on foodieslikeusblog.com on 10/03/2010
I love wine. I would marry it if I could. I love whites, reds, and my all time fave, champagne. What could possibly be better for me than a night sampling 20 different wines for only $25? Nothing really. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar decided that all of their 100 wine offerings needed to be sampled and enjoyed so that their patrons could enjoy the wide array of varietals that they offered.
Each Opening Night featured 20 different wines from the new Fleming’s 100. I had been blessed to attend two different evenings and tried some amazing wines that I ordinarily would not have ordered. My wine palate has been opened up and can not wait to taste more from their exciting collection.
I have to admit that I hope that Fleming’s continues to do these Opening Nights as a regular component of their Wine Portfolio. It was great to experience a lovely evening with other wine lovers and the staff makes you feel like you are a bona fide wine buyer and aficionado.
One of my favorite champagnes is the Schramsberg, Blanc de Blancs 2006. It has a dry crispness bubbling over with vibrant fruity flavors and has been the favorite of celebrities and dignitaries for years.
I fell in love with the Von Buhl, Riesling Pfalz Jazz 2008. It was completely out of the box, a little skunky even, but oh, so lovely. The taste was completely unexpected and quite riveting.
Not normally a Syrah fan, I tried the next wine a bit trepidatiously. The Meyer Syrah 2005 is a tad smoky with warm red plums and boysenberries blending together beautifully. This syrah lasts long on the palate and tasted wonderful with the passed filet appetizers.
I had not heard of Vall Llach, Priorat Embruix Spain 2006 and am so thankful that Fleming’s had this for us to try. This wine is scarlet in color and the faint taste of nutmeg stays on the back of your tongue as your rack your brain trying to identify that lovely sweet taste. Another glass please!
An unusual wine that I am happy to have in my arsenal of knowledge is the Trefethen, Double T 2006. It was so bold, the flavor profile so big, I wanted to order a steak and eat it right there in the tasting room with this impressive red. I just might need to do that the next time I visit Fleming’s.
For only $25 per tasting, I sampled 20 of some of the best wines in the world. Fleming’s also offers a $25 dining credit if you stay on for dinner. Prepayment is required to enjoy these libations. Cross your fingers and hope that Fleming’s makes this wonderful event part of their quarterly line-up.
Put the chicken into the crock pot and season one side with the salt, pepper, onion, and garlic. Add 1/2 cup of water. Turn the crock pot on high for 1 hour. After one hour use tongs or two forks and pull the chicken gently apart until it is shredded.
Add to the crock pot the diced onions, rice, cream of celery or mushroom, chicken broth, milk, and broccoli. Mix thoroughly. If you are going to be home while this cooks, then set the timer for 2 hours on high and then add in the cheese and mix again and cook on high for 2 more hours. If you are not going to be home, add the cheese with the other ingredients and mix very well. If you are not home, cook on high for 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours. I set the timer for 4 hours, then let it continue on low.
This dish is so filling and tastes amazing. One bowl with all the food groups too!
Yields: 10 servings
Break out your favorite crock pot and put the chicken breasts in the bottom. Add the diced onions & bell peppers. Add the 2 cans of the Mexican stewed tomatoes. Cover and set on high for 4-6 hours. If you are home, go ahead and mix it after 3 hours. Mine was perfect after 5 hours. Take tongs and gently shred the chicken and mix with all other ingredients.
I also have been known to add black beans and additional halved grape tomatoes. You can also add 1/2 cup of chopped artichokes hearts. Yum!
To jazz it up, serve with the following topping:
Put Cilantro & Cabbage into a small food processor. Squeeze the lime into over the ingredients. Pulse on high for 30 seconds. 1 Tbsp is 11 calories. Enjoy!
Grab a bowl, cracked 2 eggs into it, add a dash of salt, pepper, & garlic powder. Grab another flatter dish (pie pans work great) and toss your bread crumbs into it. At this point, either dice up your raw chicken breasts in 1″ cubes or leave whole.
Start a quart pot with enough water for your pasta, add a tish of salt to the water. Preheat your sauce pan with the olive oil on medium heat.
Dip the chicken breasts into the egg bath then coat generously in the bread crumb mixture. Gently drop the chicken breasts cubes or whole breasts into the olive oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. If your chicken breast is still whole, make sure it is not pink in the center. Remove from the oil once completely cooked throughout. At this point, if your chicken breast is still whole, go ahead and cut it up into 1″ chunks.
Once the water starts boiling in your quart pot, add the pasta and follow the directions for cooking the pasta. Drain the pasta when done, but do not rinse.
Throw the pasta back into the pot once it has been drained. Add the chicken breasts and tomato sauce, stir completely. Add the cheese and give it another great stir.
I enjoy this meal with either a large glass of milk or pinot noir, depending on my mood. Enjoy!
~~Wish I would have taken pictures. Next time!~~
I am a Social Media Specialist and Editor based in Phoenix, AZ. I absolutely love everything about organic gardening, decadent food, and my all time love, yummy wine. ~ Read More  |
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Welcome to my lifestyle blog! I'm single with a passion for life and love good food and wine while trying to eat healthy. Here is an overview what you will find on my Blog:
