And We Call Ourselves Civilized

Warning: Holiday rant follows

Shopping. Not really one of my favorite things to do. I especially hate Black Friday shopping, or pretty much any shopping between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Everyone is at the store, making it difficult to get around (because they want to leave their cart in the middle of the aisle, making it impossible for anyone to pass, and then shoot you evil stares when you try to politely say excuse me, I'd like to pass). Everyone is crabby and short with each other, and very, very few people are really into the spirit of Christmas. Heck, who cares what this season is about, I'm just here to spend gobs of money on things that no one really needs just so I can feel important.

Three people are dead after yesterday's shopping, and many more I'm sure are injured. I find it absolutely barbaric that we as human beings, in a supposedly Christianized society will trample a man to death, and then continue shopping because our own lusts for "stuff" is more important that the life of one man. And, what idiot brings a gun to go shopping, even if it is Black Friday? Seriously. Barbaric. How can anyone look at us as a nation and think that we are civilized when we act like hungry lions on the Serengeti at feeding time. We are so concerned with getting the best "deal", that we will kill our fellow man to get it. It is amazing to me.

I hear of parents who want to spend $300 to $400 per child, just for Christmas presents. What on earth does a child need that much stuff for? My husband and I don't spend that much on presents for our 6 kids in a whole year, let alone for one day. I hear of parents talking about taking out loans, just so they can spend as much as they want on their children. And then later, wonder why their children are so selfish and self-centered. I've had discussions with people about why my children have to get exactly the same number of toys that all add up to exactly the same amount of money, because "they're counting, really, they're paying attention and they're all going to get jealous of each other". Really? I didn't have any problems with it until it was made a problem by certain family members. When it was made an issue, it became an issue.

For the most part, my kids do pretty well at Christmas. We've tried not to make a big deal out of the presents we give (extended family does what they will and there's not much we can do about it), but we've tried hard to make sure that they understand the meaning of Christmas. From our family, we don't do much in the way of presents, leaning more towards family gifts, which seems to work well for us. I do like to do the stockings, but we don't put a ton in them.

I guess my point is, we as a nation tend to focus far too much on material aquisition (especially of cheap crap that breaks easily), and we don't focus much on each other, or our relationships. We are so much more interested in getting what we want, that killing a person in a stampede is deemed less important than shopping for the ultimate gift. We are so much more interested in getting our kid the latest toy so we can be perceived as the "cool" parents, that we will bring guns to a toy store to get what we want.

And we call ourselves civilized.

I am working on something, an idea for Christmas. I will get it up in the next week, so stay tuned.

Dessert

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake. This has been one of my favorites for forever. My grandma made it when I was a kid, and while I'm reluctant to say it's my most favorite, it definitely ranks up there. It's such an easy recipe too, and then there's all that ganache, I think I need a piece for breakfast.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) devil’s food cake mix (with or without pudding)
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure almond extract (optional)
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350* F. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside. Place the cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place in the oven. Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack while you prepare the glaze. For the glaze, place the sugar, butter, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. When the chips have melted and the glaze is smooth, pour it over the warm cake sot that it covers the entire surface. The glaze will be thin, but will firm up. Cool the cake for 20 minutes more before cutting.

**Store this cake, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze the cake, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 mos. Thaw the cake overnight on the counter before serving.

Then of course, there's pumpkin pie. Now, for some reason, mine didn't turn out too pretty. But here's an idea....

Let's Talk Turkey

I am going to tell you today how to make my absolutely awesome Garlic Rosemary Turkey Breast. I based this off a recipe for a whole turkey, but no one in our family likes dark meat so we switched over to turkey breast. I am never going back. It is so easy to do just a breast, and you have tons of juicy white meat.

Garlic Rosemary Turkey Breast

• One 8-10 lb. deboned turkey breast with skin (you can order this through a butcher, usually about a week ahead of time)
• 1 lemon, halved
• 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled
  
• 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely minced
  
• 3-4 leaves fresh sage, finely minced
  
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare your turkey breast, skin side up, in a large baking pan. Cut 6-8 small slits in the skin, and insert the garlic. Push them in a little so they are covered by the skin. Squeeze one half to one whole lemon over the turkey breast, covering the skin with the juice. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Sprinkle with the fresh sage and rosemary.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F. for about 15-20 minutes per pound. I am aiming for about 3 1/2 hours or so. I will start checking the internal temperature after about 2 1/2 hours.

Let it cool for about 20 minutes before carving.

You can also try to find half of a turkey breast, for a smaller amount of meat. I like the whole breast because it leaves me lots of leftover turkey for sandwhiches and recipes, like chicken pot pie and soup using the turkey as a substitute.

Here's how the garlic works:

Here's the turkey before cooking:

And here's the turkey after cooking:



Mmmmm......

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Today is a busy day, but I will try to get a few pictures in here and there.

Today our menu is:

• Garlic Rosemary Turkey Breast (no one will let me make anything else, it's that good.
• Golden Au Gratin Potatoes (it might not be mashed potatoes, but again, they won't let me take it off the menu!)
• Creamed Sweet Corn (I don't know if it's exactly creamed, but it's really good)
• Cottage Cheese (storebought, I'm not that good)
• Some sort of rolls or biscuits. I don't know yet.
  
• Pumpkin Pie
• Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake

That should about cover it. There will probably be a few things tossed in at the last minute, but I chose to keep things very simple this year. We are celebrating by ourselves, and the opportunity to scale back a lot was rather welcome. I thought about having the kids make some sugar cookies this afternoon too, to keep them out of my hair, but we'll see.

Have a great day everyone, and I'll be hopefully posting pictures tonight or tomorrow!

Tasty Thursday: One Day Ahead

I'm posting this ahead, because tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and this is a recipe you need to start the night before. I'm sharing a recipe for Buckwheat Pancakes, which are really good. They're a little heavier on the flavor, but not quite overpowering. They really are good, and they're old-fashioned to boot. Don't forget to visit the Pumkin Patch for more Tasty Thursday recipes!

Buckwheat Pancakes

• 2 Tablespoons molasses
• 1 oz. fresh yeast
• 2 cups buckwheat flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour OR unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon drippings OR lard
• ½ cup brown sugar

The night (or 8 hours) before serving, put ½ cup of bloodwarm water in the bowl or pitcher, stir in molasses, and crumble yeast on top. When yeast has softened, stir in another 2 cups of tap water and both the flours. Cover with a cloth and let stand at room temperature (under 70° F.; refrigerate if room is hotter) to make the sponge.

Next morning remove 1 cup of the sponge to a jar as a starter for the next batch. Store in refrigerator. Dissolve baking soda and salt in ½ cup of hot water, and add drippings. Beat this into the sponge until well mixed.

Heat griddle until it makes water drops dance; grease it with salt pork or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour one large test cake to start; use this to cover remaining cakes. Pour each cake 3 to 4 inches wide. Cook until bubbles form and burst, then turn and cook equally long on the other side. As you stack finished cakes on a warm plate, sprinkle each with a little brown sugar.

The starter will keep for a number of days in the refrigerator. For your next batch of cakes, make the sponge by mixing starter with 2 Tablespoons molasses, 2 cups bloodwarm water, 1 ½ cups buckwheat flour, and 1 cup whole wheat or unbleached all-purpose flour. Let stand overnight, then proceed as before, setting aside a new cup before adding final ingredients.

COOKS NOTE: This is a really thin batter, so pour carefully. I used a 1/3 cup measure, and was able to get three small cakes out of it.

YIELD: 2 DOZEN 3-INCH PANCAKES PLUS 1 CUP OF SPONGE

You're Kidding, Right?

So last night, I went to cook some dinner. I turned on the oven, and started unloading groceries, since it takes a while for our oven to heat up to temperature. I get everything in the house, start getting the food ready to put in, open the oven door, and...... Guess what. NOTHING! There is nothing happening in the oven. No flame (we have a gas oven), not even a gassy smell.

Alright, at least it's Tuesday, I can still maybe get something done. I wait for my husband to arrive home, he looks at it, follows the instructions for relighting it, and..... NOTHING! Again, nothing is happening.

Alright, it's still early, I can call the property manager. I call, he says he'll call me back. An hour goes by, I'm feeling antsy, so I call him. He says the owner's nephew is looking for our lease to check the terms. Apparently, most of the people who rent from him have to repair their own appliances (even though we don't own said appliances). I'm thinking, is this guy nuts? I have never heard of an instance where a tenant had to repair their own appliances that they didn't own. This isn't anything we did to the oven, we can't even figure out what's wrong, or why the burners work when the oven doesn't. So now, we're waiting for a call to determine the fate of our oven, which may or may not (I'm thinking not) be fixed before tomorrow.

So, now we're at Wednesday morning, with no oven, and close to 20 people wanting to be fed at noon tomorrow. I had so much baking I was going to do today, but that's not happening. I was going to go to church tonight, but now it looks like that's not happening either, because I don't do well driving in snow. And now tomorrow, who knows!?

Thankfully, my husband works at a restaurant where I just might be able to use their oven tomorrow. At least I can get the turkey cooked, even if it's not in my own oven.

Tasty Thursday: Thanksgiving Post 2

I have another great little recipe for y'all. These are a few of the sweeter recipes that we like to make around here.

Chow Mein Cookies

1 bag semi-sweet OR milk chocolate (my personal favorite) chips
1 bag butterscotch chips
1 bag chow mein noodles (the brown crunchy kind)

Melt the chips over very low heat or a double boiler until everything is smooth and melted, stirring occasionally.

Pop a hole in the bag of noodles and crunch them up a bit. This just helps keep the pieces a little smaller and easier to eat.

Combine the melted chips and noodles in a very large bowl until everything is covered in chocolately goodness.

Using a cookie scoop (or a spoon, but the cookie scoop is easier and more fun), scoop little mounds out onto waxed paper. You will have a lot of little cookies. Allow these to set at room temp (or in the fridge or covered outside if it's cool enough and you're in a hurry).


I love a good apple pie, and this is really one of the best recipes I've ever found. I make it one of two ways, and it's always hard to choose. The difference I go between is which spices I use. I'll either go for straight cinnamon (Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cinnamon), or Apple Pie Spice, both available at Penzey's. Occasionally, I'll even mix the two.

This is a precooked filling recipe. I usually cheat and use a store bought crust, only because I don't usually have the time to make a crust of my own. Because it's precooked, you can use any kind of top crust you want without any issues with the apples shrinking. A lattice crust looks great on this one, and if you use a disposable pie tin, people will think it's a store bought pie!

Apple Pie

3 pounds apples (6-8 medium-large) (Golden Delicious is what I usually use, though Jonagolds are also very good)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon OR apple pie spice
1/8 tsp. salt

Peel and core the apples. Slice them to a little thicker than 1/4 inch. Measure 7 cups. In a very large, wide skillet over high heat, melt the butter until sizzling and fragrant. Add the apples and toss until glazed with butter. Reduce heat to medium, cover tightly and cook, stirring frequently until the apples are soft on the outside but still slightly crunchy on the inside, about 5-7 minutes.

Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and salt. Increase heat to high and cook the apples at a rapid boil until the juices become thick and syrupy, about 3 minutes. (**I have had some trouble getting this to thicken up in only three minutes, so I will often let this cook a little longer). Immediately spread the apples on a baking sheet and cool to room temperature.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Pour the apples into the bottom crust. Brush the hanging edge of the crust with cold water. Cover with the top crust or lattice, and seal the edge, trim, and crimp or flute. If using a closed top crust, cut steam vents. If desired, you can sprinkle the crust with a little bit of cinnamon sugar.

Bake until the crust is richly browned, and the filling has begun to bubble, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a rack, 3 to 4 hours.

Tasty Thursday: Thanksgiving Post 1

I know I'm a bit late today (loooong day), but here it is!

This week's Tasty Thursday is the Thanksgiving edition, and I've got a few goodies for you!

A few years ago, I tried a version of this recipe that required a whole turkey. The turkey was great, and the leftovers were amazing, but as usual, we didn't eat all of the bird (no one likes dark meat here), and it just seemed that there was a lot of waste. More recently however, we realized that we could order just a turkey breast, getting a whole bunch of white meat, no dark meat, and satisfying everyone at the same time. I was able to adapt the recipe that we've grown to favor, and use it on the breast. This recipe can easily be used on chicken as well, if you're not a big turkey fan.

Garlic Rosemary Turkey Breast

1 or 2 whole, deboned turkey breasts (you have to ask for this at a butcher shop by the way, don't bother with the turkey breasts from the store, if you can even find one)
2-4 garlic cloves, cut in half
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Fresh sage, finely chopped
1 lemon, halved
Salt and pepper


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a baking dish with cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Place the breasts, skin side up in the baking dish. Make tiny slits in the skin and insert small pieces of garlic between the skin and the meat. You can use as much or as little as you like. (Too much can be pretty overpowering though, so be careful) Squeeze the lemons over the turkey, and sprinkle with sage, rosemary, salt and pepper (sea salt is great for this, as is a peppermill on a coarse setting). Bake until golden brown, and a meat thermometer reads 170 degrees F. (I strongly recommend getting a good thermometer, because I've never actually timed this, I've always gone by temperature. Though if you asked me, I'd say around an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the thickness, freshness and beginning temperature of the breasts).
Serve with all sorts of goodies, and save some for sandwiches.

**Here is the whole turkey recipe, for those of you that want the whole bird**

Garlic Rosemary Turkey

1 whole turkey (10 to 12 lbs)
6 -8 garlic cloves
2 large lemons, halved
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
Salt and pepper

Cut 6-8 small slits in the turkey skin and insert the garlic between the skin and the meat. Squeeze two lemon halves inside the turkey and leave them inside. Squeeze remaining lemon over outside of turkey. Sprinkle turkey with rosemary, sage, salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a roasting pan (not something I've ever done, since I've never gotten around to getting a rack, but the bird will still cook just fine). Bake uncovered at 325 degrees F. for 1 hour. Cover and bake 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours longer or until a meat thermometer reads 185 degrees F. under the thigh.


Don't forget to visit The Pumkin Patch for more great Tasty Thursday Thanksgiving recipes!