Thomas Turkus Dressing

This week I am thinking about next week. Thomas Turkus is coming to a plate near you. I think back and remember all the Turkey Dinners Mom used to cook. The week she passed away she was worried about how she was going to get up from her sick bed and cook Thanksgiving Dinner.

Mom made her own dressing most of her married years and family gatherings, while she was still cooking for the holidays. Only in her later years did she buy any of the boxed bread crumbs and seasonings. She always saved the heels of bread and stale bread for dressing. She mixed in her own seasonings and stuffed the turkey. She would get up early in the morning and put the turkey in the oven and start it baking for the day. She always had a big turkey and it took a long time to bake.

Because I live by myself I will not buy a turkey. I have a couple of Cornish Hens to bake and they will be more than enough for me. I will make my semi-home made dressing and add a few touches to it. I like to make oyster dressing with mushrooms and Chinese Water Chestnuts, about a half cup of cooked rice and about a half cup of oatmeal. I will save and add the liquid from canned mushrooms and the water chestnuts to the chicken broth I just saved. I add the seasoning and the bread crumbs. Yes, I buy the boxed dressing bread crumbs with the dry, pre-packed seasoning, but when I am finished it will be a lot better than what come out of the original box.

There are all kinds of recipes available online, but make it "your own' recipe and add what you like. Chop and add the liver, the heart or the gizzard if that is what you want in your dressing. I might mention that a Cornish Hen is small and you can't get too much stuffing into the cavity. I will add mine on the on the side with other vegetables.

Do you think it is too early to think about Thanksgiving? Nope, there will be a run to the stores for the next week and a half because the mailboxes are full of Thanksgiving food ads today. Go early and get what you want, need or can afford.

This morning I fried my eggs in one teaspoon of chicken fat. It was rendered out from the chicken I roasted last week along with the broth. To render the chicken fat from the chicken save all the skin, fat, bones, liquid and carcass of the chicken. Place in a pot to boil, add water and season to taste. Boil about 15 to 20 minutes and let stand to cool. When cool enough pour through a strainer and save the broth in a container in the refrigerator. When the broth is cold the fat will raise to the top and you can skim it off and put into a separate container and cover. You will never get 100 % percent of the fat of the broth, but that is OK. You want a little fat in the broth. Toss the skin and bones.

Don't forget, there are a lot of hungry people out there this year...do what you can, if you can.

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Soup of the Day and It Ain't Pretty

I'm tired of eating Chicken; I had it for lunch. I picked something easy for supper. Bean 'n Bacon soup with Rye Crackers hit the spot. I love the Rye Cracker and the soup. They go well together and both are good for you and for your diet, too.

I got a couple things accomplished today. I have been putting off covering the air conditioner for a while, waiting for colder weather. It's coming. Even 'though we have had several lite frosts the days have been very nice: Indian Summer. I think the Indians are about to pull down their wigwams and pull on out of here.

Usually when I cover the air conditioners I do a fairly decent job, but this year I did a "utility job." I have heavy plastic that I usually drag out, measure, cut, staple and tape to seal out any drafts that leak in around the A/C and window frame. This year I took a short cut. I pulled out a black plastic garbage bag and taped the heck out of it. It isn't pretty, but it works and in the spring time I can just rip it right out of there. It's not that I'm lazy(really?) it just that I am really lazy. It saves wear 'n tear on my arm. Yes, I can use my arm to some degree, but it ain't like it used to be.

There is a new blog up for anyone who is interested in political views, opinions and comments, as well as pictures from the Tea Party participants that assembled in Washington D. C. It is www.BlogginUSA.com and interesting to read.

I Cheated

I admit it. I cheated on my diet today. I got tired of eating chicken and vegetables all week. I wanted something different for a change. I stopped and picked up a burger and a drink and French Fries. I will get back on the wagon tomorrow. A little verity does the body good. I have been eating chicken and salads and salads and chicken with vegetables tossed in for good measure. So yes, I went for the empty calories, high cholesterol, sugar and starch ...woe is me...but it was good!

I stopped and got gas on my way home. It is down to $2.41 if you pump it your self. That is down from $2.69 two weeks ago. It may go lower yet. Every gas station was pretty busy and in some places cars were lined up, waiting for a bargain. Will it be a bargain next week? I don't know, but I know I have several appointments next week and I have to have it. We are held captive by big government and the oil companies.

Beverly, I did get the web site and added it to my favorites.

I need to get busy and get milk from the store tomorrow. It is one item I don't keep in stock. So, this a short post and I am off. I will rattle your cages tomorrow.

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Gold vs. Food

I've been reading survival blogs like a lot of people. Many of them advocate buying gold as a hedge against an economic collapse or depression. Such advice does not take into account the poor, the elderly or the infirm. These are the major population of this country. The poor are getting poorer much faster and the insurance schemes that now goes before the Senate is a form of population control . That leaves the sick and infirm in a vulnerable position and I guess euthanasia will be the next step the government will broach in order to "save."

I have no gold. I have no intention of trying to buy any. Most of us of the population of the lesser value...can't. There are other criteria that I consider true survival tools and many Americans live and practice these modes of living each day as necessities for getting through hard times.

All the gold that China has will not buy you my last slice of bread or piece of bologna. Gold won't get you through my door and it sure can't keep you warm at night. Try eating a gold coin or snuggling up to it at night for warmth. Gold may become the currency of the land, but if there is nothing to buy, it will buy you nothing.

I continue to urge my friends and relatives and anyone that happens to stumble herein, to stock up, if not for bad times, then for bad weather. I have said it before: STOCK UP.

There are three things you need in life in order to survive: shelter, food and water and cloths. Having close family ties is a bonus, but not always realistic. I could wax philological about guns, knives, survival kits and storage methods, but that isn't my within my expertise or even within my budget . There are many other blogs that cover all the information about weapons and security. No, I just want to remind readers that America is not out of the woods and seems to be getting deeper into the tall timber and heavy brush. So. watch out for Bigfoot 'cause he seems to be carrying a big club as he plows though the forest of higher taxes and infringing laws and regulations. "STORE UP YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN."

I went to get my hair done. The poor economy has really affected my hair dressers business. She has had to take on another job of janitorial work in the one of the schools just to keep her shop open. She is not a young person and her health isn't that wonderful. These are sad times for the little business people. Take heed.

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Winter Greens project

More Greens from the garden have made it into the kitchen. I picked some small spinach, lettuce and Swiss Chard leaves and even found a couple onions that had been missed. In other words, I am "gleaning" as much my garden and getting as much as I can from it. Another salad coming up!

Every nutritionist in the modern world will advocate that we eat lots of green, red and yellow vegetables as well as fresh fruits. Your getting fiber,minerals,vitamins, flavonoids, pytonutrients, pytoestragen and micro chemicals.

You can't always get what you need from a can as heat and processing is destructive . You can fill up, but you may not be fueling up. And then you heat it up again, either on the stove or in the microwave. Heat kills the essential essences and microwaves explode the cell of your food. So it is good, but may not be good for you.

I recommend that if your meals are mainly from cans that you add Vit. B stress tabs. a good vitamin and Calcium with Vit D. To that be sure to get plenty of fibre.

I realize that not everyone can afford to eat well or eat "right." However, you can have some greens growing in a big butter dish in a sunny window. Take a large butter dish, place sand, grit or newspapers in the bottom, then add potting soil. Add some of our favorite "green" seeds in the soil near the top and cover. Water lightly, but do not drown. You can have a container of lettuce, Swiss Chard, or spinach growing in a sunny window. The bigger the plant, the bigger the dish you will need. You will soon have enough for a small salad or a BLT or whatever your heart desires. The time to start our pot is now.

I leave it up to you. I know you know how. I know you can do it. Fresh greens all winter long.

Just a note: There are a couple of words herein that I am not sure of the spelling and the spell checker can't find.

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Still Green

I walked through the garden with the intent of cleaning some more dead plants out. I discovered that some plants are still producing in spite a few lite frosts and cool nights. I picked off all the green peppers I could find and even found a few more radishes. There are more radishes growing and as long as the weather holds I will let them continue and see how big they may get.

Did you know that radish leaves are completely edible? I will put some in my salad tonight. You can go online and find recipes for radish leaves. Just be sure to wash the leaves thoroughly. As you can see here I have not washed them yet, but they are now in the sink awaiting a bath.

As for the peppers, there were only a couple that I couldn't use because they hung in the mud and were starting to rot.

In the other picture you can see there is some spinach and Swiss Chard still very green and waiting for cutting. And guess, what...there are still butterflies in the flowers.

I hope that I can buy a new, small tiller in the spring; one small enough for me to use with limited arm power.

Glenn Beck is back on the air and TV tomorrow.

The End

Sunday dinner and then some

I was going to roast a chicken for Ray on Saturday, but we went out to eat instead. So, I roasted a Chicken yesterday instead, with all the fixings. It turned out pretty well. I probably put too much butter in the dressing, but I like moist dressing, so it suited me just fine .

I did fix the bacon and saved the bacon grease for future cooking. I don't have a picture of the bacon grease because it is in a glass jar and the flash reflects off the jar.

Do you save the bacon grease from your frying? I do and I also save the chicken fat and leftover liquid in another container. You can use the bacon fat and drippings for gravy, flavoring foods and frying eggs in. The chicken fat also makes a good flavoring agent in stews and even in some baking, such as homemade biscuits. Just add a teaspoon or so to the dough and see how good it makes biscuits taste when added to a regular recipe. I can make pretty good dumplings with some leftover chicken fat and drippings in a pot of boiling water. You don't have to have the chicken, but you can add the liver, heart, gizzard and neck or any other chicken part to the pot of water. Add seasoning to taste. WHAT? YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE DUMPLINGS? So cheat a little bit and use Bisquick from a package/box.

I put the steaks back in the freezer. If meat thaws out in the ice box/fridge you can safely refreeze...according to the experts...and I have done it before.

Go online to your search engine and type in bacon or chicken recipes and you can really make a chicken squawk or a pig squeal!

I didn't intend to go out today or go anywhere, but I just remembered that I needed to take some books back to the library...like two days ago. I attended to that and checked out one...only one...book.

When I went to Wal-Mart last week I picked up some ant traps. I don't think they are very effective, but I will try them and hope that they work.

So...wad do ya think? Does that chicken look good? Yummm! Bet you wish you were here to help me eat that roasted chicken.

The END of the life of a chicken.