Turkey Frying

With so much turkey talk out there, I thought I'd mention our favorite way to cook a turkey--frying. This was a popular thing when we lived in New Orleans, but we never learned how to do it there. Then several years ago, we watched a neighbor cook a 20 lb turkey in under two hours and decided that this was something we had to try. (Not to mention the fact that Ward loves them cooked this way.) So Ward got the equipment as a gift for Christmas that year, and the frying began. Below is a post about a turkey we fried for Theodore's birthday last year to give you a little idea about the process and links if you want to learn more.

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Birthday Turkey

I live with a family of wannabe carnivores. According to Ward and the boys, meat would be the sum total of every meal if we didn't need those pesky vegetables to stay healthy. Therefore, I was not surprised when Theodore said he wanted a “Meat Event” for his recent birthday. After some discussion, it was decided that the event would be a fried turkey.

Our turkey fryer setup

Everyone I know swears that a fried turkey is the best turkey they've ever had. Also, they claim that since the oil doesn't penetrate the skin, it's still healthy. Well, that's not entirely true, a little of the oil does go into the meat--why else would it taste so good? But overall, it's not a bad choice, nutritionwise, in the meat world.

350 degrees is optimum frying temp.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with frying a turkey, but the concept is simple. Basically, you take a full size turkey, submerse it in hot oil, and fry it until it is done.* The first time we fried a turkey, I was very excited because a large size bird was only going to take about an hour to cook--what a time saver. However, we failed to realize that the setup and the heating of the oil to cooking temperature took a couple of hours. Lunch was a little late that day.

Ward getting ready to carve the turkey.

Ward was the mastermind behind frying the turkey for Theodore's meat event. He beautifully fried a 10 pound turkey most of which was eaten during the birthday meal. Did I mention that the males of the family like meat? We topped the evening off with a birthday cheesecake—but didn't fry it. Maybe next time.

*A word of caution if you are going to try this at home. A frozen turkey can explode in the hot oil.

Thankful Sunday--November 18, 2012

I am thankful for community theater.

Quality Production + Good Prices + Easy Parking = a Good Time.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--Nov. 16, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste

This week so we had no waste!

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This Week's True Food Confessions

My favorite of these dishes was the tomato casserole. It had cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, Italian seasoning and bread crumbs.

We struggled a bit this week. Our regular schedules changed and stress seemed to be piling on for various reasons. These things combined with no menu plan made it hard not to have carry out pizza every night--but we didn't. We had a big crock pot of chili that lasted for a couple meals and rotisserie chicken that went a long way. Another night we had mac and cheese with salad and a tomato casserole using up the last of the tomatoes that Miss Landers gave us. Also, we had some tasty carry out burritos on Saturday when we were out all day. That was the day I also experienced the case of the missing fork tine. I don't remember, but there must have been some pizza in this week somewhere. One of our weeks is not complete without it.

Next week will be unusual because we are traveling for Thanksgiving. However, my goal is to have some healthy and easy meals to eat before we go. All bets are off after that.

Excel

or Pride Goeth Before the Fall

I had a class on Excel earlier in the week that I was not looking forward to. Excel, for those of you who might not know, is a spread sheet program that is both powerful and tedious at the same time. This was an intro class, so I thought I might be really bored as they spent all day teaching us to put data into the program. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the instructor was able to make it interesting and tailor the material to the different background levels of our class. During the morning session, I thought I was asking very good clarification questions and clearly summarizing the points that the teacher was making. It was a good feeling and I was rather pleased with myself.

That was until after lunch. Then I couldn't remember the details of what I had “learned” in the morning . The instructor seemed to be going faster and I was lost more often. Maybe the easiness of the morning had been replaced with after lunch lethargy. Or maybe I had become a prime example of the saying, “Pride goeth before the fall.”

In the end, I learned that in Excel functions need parentheses, but formulas do not and the world is full of very capable people with different abilities including me.

A Second Look--November 14, 2012

I'm glad that I was out earlier in the week during the warm weather because today it was sleeting. The rain and wind brought down most of the remaining leaves, however there are still a couple of maples that are in their prime. Also, a few flowers have been protected from the frosts and are providing delicate color here and there. I know colder weather is coming because I saw a junco which migrates here for the winter.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

Japanese Maple

Asiatic Bittersweet Berries

White tailed deer

Sweet Gum Ball

Sage

Early morning at the bird feeder

Wild cherry growing in fork of a maple tree.

Mum