The Stuff(ing) of Legends...

Trace, this ones for you!

This coming Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving.

A few years ago I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock being my L-O-V-E for the traditional family dressing that has been passed down through the generations. The hard place being my pregnant belly. You see, the preggo are advised NOT to eat stuffing cooked IN a bird. Salmonella or some shite.  Anyhoo, the future Godparents of my fabulous daughter were hosting an expat-style Thanksgiving (ironic since most of the expats in attendance have no such thing in their home countries, but the idea is just so darn catchy!!!)

I was in charge of the bird. I knew that my Grandmother's dressing (a recipe I will NOT be giving out) needed to be prepped and cooked outside of the bird (insert dead relatives turning in their graves here). Then, inspired by a video I had seen for a "Man-Style BBQ Chicken" involving the insertion of a tallboy beer can into the cavity of a chicken thereby essentially steaming the bird from the inside whilst cooking, I had a revelation.

The Magnificent Martha Stewart Ladies and Gentleman!

I quartered a heap of apples and stuffed as many as I could into that big ol' organic turkey. The premise was the same (apples steaming the bird from inside) but here is where it differed; when basting draw juice from the apples inside the bird. The sugar from the apples effectively caramelizes the outside of the bird resulting the most beautiful golden brown turkey you have ever seen. And it is SOOOOOO moist. The gravy is both savoury and slightly sweet. Delightful!

Last year I insisted we abandon carving the turkey in the old fashion for a new style. I know, how Victorian of me, right?! About my discoveries: the internet is awfully humbling and I have realized roughly several gagillion-million people also stuff their birds with apples. Even more carve in the "new fashion" so here it is - I am sure your way is great, but this way is better: How to carve a Turkey

K, so since I have had a few glasses of wine I'll give you one last of my Thanksgiving secrets: a dram of Grand Marnier in homemade cranberry sauce is TO DIE FOR!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Harvest Moon...

This years Fall Equinox and the Harvest moon happily converged. It really was stunning if you got a chance to see it. I mean, it looked like daylight outside despite the setting of the sun hours before, and it is not going to happen again until 2029.

The leaves here are turning. Bright red, yellow and orange - and I have crocuses blooming in the garden, is that normal?! Anyhoo, it really has put me into an Autumn state of mind. I am presently digging out my fall wreath and tomorrow we are headed to the Spencer Hill Orchard and Gallery in Grand Forks for the Apple Festival to grab some pumpkins and homemade apple juice.  Mmm pumpkin patchy apple juice :)

 

Buying pumpkins now and trying to keep them through the month can be difficult. Last year my friend Jo (who carries the Martha Stewart gene) passed along a super trick, that I am now passing along to you!






Preserving Your Pumpkin:
Fill you kitchen sink (or another deep basin) with cold water. 
Add 1 cup of Bleach
Submerge Pumpkin (or other lovely gourd-licious decoration) fully.
Let soak for 1 hour.
Pumpkin can be resoaked closer to carving time to ensure no mildew or mold!

It worked like gangbusters! The pumpkins I had last year lasted so long I was beginning to wonder if they had cured all the way through. I thought, "Great, I won't have to do this again! I'll just store these and reuse them every year!" But when I started decorating for Christmas in the first week of November (I know, I know, but it is a season people!) I put them outside and a squirrel ate them. Oops. Obviously I am starting from scratch this year, but it is too much fun to skip!

Olde Fashioned Girl

There is an olde fashioned girl living in me and she L-O-V-E-S lists. She also loves moderne conveniences, but there is just something about list making with a pen and paper that trumps all!

I am easily overwhelmed by tasks and what-not that pop up out of the ordinary. No matter how small. I think this is a symptom of being an olde fashioned girl. If the what-not is part of my not routine it seems magnanimous to me. I find a sort of catharsis in making a list. Lists make my life more manageable. I can see the big picture. Even if the list is 10 feet long,  it is there in black and white. I feel empowered and capable. More like myself and less like I am drowning.

Sometimes if need be, I will borrow other peoples lists. Martha Stewart has daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal house cleaning lists that I recently printed and had laminated so I could reuse them. They hang in my laundry room. Her crazy abates my crazy, right?!

I make lists about everything. Things I would like to do as well as what needs to be done. Places I would like to go, goals, dreams and aspirations. There is a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment as I cross items off the list, be it getting bananas, more time for myself or finishing the vacuuming. The latter is done with Isla visible ;). And if I get something done that was not previously on the list, I will add it and then unabashedly cross it off!

There have been times when I felt inept. Beating myself up and wondering what I was doing with my life only to see my many achievements staring back at me from my Dream Board or from a list I wrote 12 months ago. In these moments I feel bolstered and encouraged. Having a concrete record of feats to remind myself, when I cannot see the forest for the trees, is one of the ways I love lists best.