Warning: this is a double post; from decor to turkey. Happy Thanksgiving!
We just moved into a house, yay! We have plenty of space now & I've been trying to decide on decor. I really wanted to do a gallery wall, but wasn't sure where to start! I knew I didn't have enough frames so it was great when I found an 8 piece set at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It was a great starting point, but it wasn't what I was going for. I wanted more. I wanted personalized. So I shopped around some craft stores for some things & I rummaged through the house finding some more frames & signs that I could incorporate.
I was definitely over stimulated. So excited to create a masterpiece via decor. Then reality hit. Arranging the items to create something great--easy. Taking that creation & actually transporting it to the wall--not so easy. Good thing I have a handy dandy husband! There was some frustrating getting things we wanted with as few nail holes as possible, but we did it!
The rest of the week consisted of planning our Thanksgiving dinner. You would think this is a simple task. In most cases, it is. But in our house, that's not always the case. He wanted modern, I wanted traditional. Ultimately, traditional won--surprise :) I'm fine with creating modern dishes with turkey day leftovers, but the for whatever reason, the actual dinner itself I couldn't image having any other way than the "typical" thanksgiving dinner.
I have always been at war with myself when it comes it comes to recipes. I have to follow the recipe...no, I want to make something original...no...I don't know! I'm a bipolar chef.
Recently I have been branching out more and more, wanting to create rather than mimic. I suppose its my craftiness blending itself across trades!
I'm making my 2nd turkey this year. But for whatever reason, I didn't save the recipes I used last year for everything...WHY?!
I looked at some recipes on Pinterest to get some inspiration, but couldn't commit. So I'm flying solo! I made some "herb butter" (if you will) to place under, & over, the turkey's skin. It is just softened butter, garlic, some everyday seasoning, some 21 salute, pepper, basil, garlic powder & onion powder. No measurements, just what looked (or smelt) good! Covered the turkey in some foil & popped it in! The kitchen started smelling good, in 10 minutes--yum!
I decided I was going to baste every 30 minutes. After this decision, I read a blog about how that's a no-no...oh well! I started with using chicken stock for the first hour & a half until there was enough drippings to use. Then I took the foil off, to allow for the idealistic crunch skin.
I had my cooking plan ironed out, when I needed to start making each dish in order for it to be completed at the same time as the turkey. Then disaster struck! My turkey finished an hour sooner than expected...! Obviously I couldn't leave it in the oven to dry out, so I took it out & covered it with foil to try & contain the heat. I would baste periodically while finishing up the other dishes. It was a challenge, but we finally got everything completed: turkey, hame, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, rolls & a delicious french silk pie.
So we ate ourselves into comatose & watched movies the rest of the day. Couldn't have asked for a better meal or a better day!!
I hope everyone else had an amazing Thanksgiving as well! Happy Crafting (& Cooking)!!
