Smokin' Turkey

So my mom has this problem. A good problem. When she sees a turkey on sale she has to buy it.

For example, this Thanksgiving we went grocery shopping and the turkeys that were typically $1.50 per pound were on sale for 67 cents per pound if you bought $50 worth of groceries. That's a pretty good deal on a turkey. That made a 23 pound turkey about $15 instead of $34.

The only problem is that we got home and there were three other turkeys in the deep freezer. So, Daniel (my brother) and I are on a mission to learn to smoke turkeys.

Last weekend Daniel took the turkey out of the freezer and put it in the bottom of the fridge. Yesterday, we mixed up this spice rub, which I adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit's November 2011 magazine.

Cajun Spice Mix
5 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp thyme
1 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp onion powder

Then we had to tackle the turkey. A 20 pound turkey would have to smoke for 12-14 hours. We didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn to start the smoker, so we cut it in half. This should take about 6-7 hours. We're smoking half and baking half.

Cutting the turkey in half was quite the adventure.

Wait, back up... yeah, we broke a knife

Mmmm... This is in the fridge as we speak.

Half is going in the smoker at noon, the other half in the oven at 1:30/2. Then the giblet dressing is going in the oven about 4:30. Mashed potatoes, some kind of vegetable, and we'll have a semi-Thanksgiving dinner in January.

Tweet

Doily-ied again

Think since Christmas is over that doilies are done? Think again! Christmas with my Mom's side of the family isn't until late January. I'm still "needling" away (those are the words of my Dad.)







Yet another doily from the Magic Crochet magazine. I think this one is from June 1985.

Tweet

Random thoughts

One thing that concerns me about no longer working in an architecture office that I don't design anything anymore. As much of a nerd as I am, I enjoy reviewing building plans to see if they meet code. But I also want my name on buildings. I don't want my education and license to go to waste.

This advertisement is in several architecture magazines, and it kind of portrays what I mean.

Tweet

Books

This is the last time I'll be updating this post. For the next year, I'll list what I've read under the "Reading List 2012" tab at the top of the page. 

Since purchasing a new phone, I started reading more because it has a Kindle app. This post is going to get updated everytime I finish a book. I'm also taking full advantage of the library near my house, and the feature I discovered online where I can request a book from another branch of the library to pick up at the one by my house! I can even order books through Mobius (the state-wide library system) to pick up at my local library!

Currently working on:

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain


The May Day Murders by Scott Wittenburg

 

In 2011, I read:

Dracula by Bram Stoker
Powerful words from this book: "The common people know me, and I am master. But a stranger in a strange land, he is no one. Men know him not, and to know not is to care not for." Chapter 2 (unsure of the page number!)

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

The Fence My Father Built by Linda S. Clare
A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
"Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change." Chapter X.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (I started reading this series while I was on vacation in Puerto Rico)
The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (If you've heard of the movie The Lincoln Laywer, The Black Echo is the first in one of his other series. The main character's name is Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch, named after a painter I studied in college. Check out his painting Garden of Earthly Delights.

The Last Coyote by Michael Connelly
Void Moon by Michael Connelly


Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery by Charles Kibert (This is an educational book because I'm working with a client who wants sustainable features in his building and I haven't done a green project since the LEED Platinum Habitat for Humanity house...I'm brushing up!)

The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

Sage by Debora Clark


Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell (Ended up taking this book back without finishing it. I was 1/3 of the way into it and could not get "into" it. So boring and wordy.)

Week by Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook by Ron & Jennifer Kujawski This book was so awesome, I'm buying it!

City Farmer by Lorraine Johnson I didn't read all of this book...

Farm City by Novella Carpenter This was a pretty entertaining book about a woman who lived in a ghetto area of Oakland, CA and raised chickens, turkeys, rabbits and pigs in her backyard. In the MIDDLE of the city!


City of Bones by Michael Connelly

Angels Flight by Michael Connelly

Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live off the Land by Kurt Timmermeister


The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food and Love by Kristin Kimball

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

The Reversal by Michael Connelly


9 Dragons by Michael Connelly


Chasing the Dime by Michael Connelly

Tweet

Music Monday: Shout by Tears for Fears

This year for my birthday, I received one of those "On this day in History" papers from my financial advisor at Edward Jones. There are several songs listed that were top songs in 1985, some of which I am familiar with and like. So for the next month, we'll take a trip back in time and listen to some songs that are 27 years old.

Tweet

Harvest Tracking 2011

I know I wasn't very good at telling the blogging world about my harvest, but I kept pretty meticulous records. I have an Excel spreadsheet and every time I brought something in from the garden I weighed it or measured it, and then recorded it.

These are actually pretty bad harvest totals. I wish I would have kept a spreadsheet for the last two years to show you just how bad!

The Seed Investments in parenthesis are seeds I bought last year.

There are several herbs that don't have Total Costs listed, because I haven't figured out the price/unit from the local grocery store.

	Seed Investment(2011)	Total Cost of Harvest	Weight/Volume of Harvest
Vegetables
Artichoke,ea	$3.00	$6.00	2
Beets, Chioggia, oz	($2.25)	4.58	32
Beets, Golden, oz	($2.50)	1.00	7
Carrots, Chantenay, oz	$2.00	1.45	13
Carrots, Tonda di Parigi, oz	$2.25	1.06	9.5
Garlic, oz			4
Garlic, Elephant, oz			4
Leeks, ea	$10.95	1.00	1
Mixed Greens, oz	($3.00)	7.32	40.5
Onion, oz	$10.75	8.11	139.5
Peas, oz	$2.25	.63	7.5
Peppers, Banana Bill at MiL, oz	$1.99	10.84	58
Peppers, Banana, oz	$1.25	1.21	6.5
Peppers, Golden California at MiL, oz	$1.99	1.87	10
Peppers, Golden Marconi, oz	($2.50)	.19	1
Spinach, oz	$1.75	3.99	19
Tomatoes, Amish Paste, oz	$2.50	.17	1
Tomatoes, Black Cherry, oz	$2.50	3.19	19
Tomatoes, Thessaloniki, oz	($1.50)		29.5
Herbs
Chives, Onion, Tbsp	($1.39)		2
Dill, Tbsp	($1.49)		1
Lemongrass, Tbsp	$3.98		2
Oregano, Greek, cups			.375
Parsley, Curly Leaf, cups	($1.39)	2.15	3.24
Parsley, Flat Leaf, cups	($1.39)	.33	.5
Peppermint, Tbsp			22
Rosemary, tsp	$3.98		2
Thyme, Tbsp	$3.98		6
Fruit
Strawberries, oz.		20.47	65.5

Tweet

Good fences make good neighbors

Or they at least keep your cows off your neighbors property.

Yesterday, Dad, Daniel and I walked the fenceline of a field that we were moving weaned calves into. There are many types of fence posts on our farm. In some instances, metal t-posts. In other places, trees were used as fence posts decades ago and now have grown around the barbed wire fencing, no longer needing steeples.

 Some places have fairly new barbed wire. And other places have old barbed wire held together by baling wire.

I find it really cool how trees grow over whatever is in their path. I saw a photo several years ago of a tree out in the redwood forest of California that had a bike in it. The tree had grown several stories and the bike is way up in the air now.

And a mental note for the supplies required for fixing fence:
barbed wire
baling wire
steeples
hammer
pliers/wire cutters
more baling wire (you will need more than you expect, especially if a recent windy storm has knocked over trees on the fence row.)

Tweet