Every year at Thanksgiving it's time to roast the big bird - turkey, that is. After 15 years of making Thanksgiving for my family, I've learned a trick or two, which I hope will help you. (For the full recipe, please go to the recipe section on my website.):
1. Buy the best bird you can afford. Better living conditions = better flavor and no need for brine. I usually go organic (of course!) and buy it from a farm or source I know and trust because I know the birds have been outside and therefore I get more flavor and nutrients like vitamins A and D. If you're financially strapped then try either game hens, just the turkey breast, a free-range bird from a local farmer or an organic turkey from a chain supermarket.
2. Don't stuff the bird. Growing up in my family, this would have been considered sacrilege, but now that I'm cooking the turkey, I enjoy the shorter cooking time and juicier meat (and everybody loves it too). When you stuff a bird, it takes longer for the stuffing to come up to a safe temperature, so it's easy to overcook the meat. I simply make a wild rice & mushroom dressing on the side and bake it with extra melted butter on top...mmmm...
3. Oil the rack. Do this before you place the bird on top so the skin doesn't stick. Thank you.
4. Oven temperature: first high, then low. Calculate how much time you need to roast your turkey. When you buy it, the vendor - or the packaging - should tell you. The first 30 minutes should be at 425 degrees F then the rest of the time should go on at 325 degrees F.
5. Roast breast side down first, then flip it up. Use the power of gravity to get the juices flowing into the breast for the first 30 minutes at 425 F by having it face down. Then, when you go to turn the temp down to 325, flip it breast side up. How do I do it? With an old, clean pair of oven mitts used only for this purpose. Simple as that.
6. Baste that bird! If you don't already have a separate kitchen timer (and with everything you'll have going on you'll need one) GET ONE. Baste the bird every 30 minutes using a large, shallow long spoon or turkey baster.
7. Place vegetables on the bottom of the turkey roasting pan. Make sure veggies are cut to approximately the same size and/or thickness - about 2"-3" long and no more than 1" thick - for even cooking. If you cut them too small they will burn, baby, burn. Veggies can include large whole garlic cloves, onion chunks, carrots and celery. This will make your gravy groova-licious!
8. Make homemade broth using the giblets. OMG, don't throw those giblets away! Make a nice-a broth-a with it on the top of the stove in a medium-sized saucepan while the turkey is roasting. Check out my site for more details and my totally delish, no-fail gravy recipe.
9. Take the temperature the last hour and half hour of cooking. Sometimes, turkeys can surprise us by being done early, especially if your oven is new or unfamiliar to you. Use a standard thermometer like the kind the sell at Ace Hardware and stick it into the thigh and breast. For temperatures and tips on when it's done, go to the Thanksgiving turkey recipe on my website. 10. Rest the bird before carving. Yes, the bird MUST rest for at least 20 minutes before you carve it. Why? It allows all those fabulous juices to seep into the meat in all the right places so that when you enjoy your first bite you and your guests will be ever-more-thankful for all your delicious effort.
Did you know that farmers receive as little as nine cents out of every dollar spent on
food? The rest goes to corporations and transportation costs.
And, around the world,50 food crops are lost to extinctionevery day.Extinction! Folks, our DNA and taste buds demand variety, so we've got to keep it going on. Meanwhile, over a billion people suffer from starvation and malnutrition, while
more than two billion people suffer from diabetes and obesity. Geez! What can we do? Well, we've all got to eat so it might as well be local.
As more people eat local food, not only are our taste buds and DNA rejoicing, but it keeps local economies vibrant and encourages more families to grow really great food. In turn, our tummies are happier, there's less fuss in the kitchen (because the food tastes so good to begin with), and future generations are thanking us every delicious step of the way.
Now that is something to celebrate!
Buying food at the local farmers' market, co-op, CSA (i.e., farm to consumer direct) is something that most of us have direct access to. But good food is not so easy to find in every corner of the world. We can go one small step further in our efforts in a celebratory way - by donating to Slow Food's annual Terra Madre Day on December 10th. They'll be holding one event every minute - 1440 events - in every place they operate, from Bangladesh, to Poland, to Cleveland, Ohio. That's one big global party!
Please give today and help Slow Food make Terra Madre a global success in virtually every corner of the world.
A global revolution can only grow from local roots, and community actions will help build opposition to agribusiness and its negative effect on our health and the future of our family farms. Your donation today can help make it happen.
Recently, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced federal regulations to delay a woman's first mammogram from age 40 to 50, as reported on CNN and in The New York Times.
Upon this news, many talk shows have decried this as a disservice to women, a way to lower health care at any cost with the excuse that mammograms give so many false positives (as often as 50% of the time) that it causes needless stress, worry and cost.
Ironically, I think we're moving in the right direction on this issue. Over the years, I have been reading more and more reports about how mammograms may actually do more harm than good.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, who has the #2 medical website, www.mercola.com, there is "no evidence that mammograms save lives". When a mammogram is taken, the machine squeezes the breast very tightly, so tightly that if cancer are cells present, it can lead to a "lethal spread of any existing malignant cells".
Instead, women (and men - they get breast cancer too!) should eat fresh organic food, lower stress, and examine their breasts regularly for any changes as part of their regular health routine. If you have a history of breast cancer in your family or want to be screened for it, there is a newer technology that is supposed to be safer and more effective at detecting breast cancer in the earlier stages than mammograms.
Digital infrared thermography is like taking a heat image of your breasts to detect masses and inflammation. The equipment is more advanced and accurate in detecting the initial stages of breast cancer, takes only about 15 minutes, and emits zero radiation.
If a big family dinner is not on your calendar, or you simply want a meaningful way to give thanks this holiday season, you have many options.
Here are my Top 5 Favorite Ideas for giving thanks to those in need this Thanksgiving or Christmas:
1. Join local San Francisco Top Chef Ryan Scott and Turkey Troops for a big Thanksgiving meal give-away to families in need. Donate your time, money or food. With the click of a PayPal button, $20 helps feed 12 people. Here's the link: http://www.chefryanscottandtheturkeytroops.com/
3. Ask family, friends or your local church if there are families in need for Thanksgiving/Christmas. Bring out your "inner Julia Child" by making them a feast they will always be thankful for. Of course, check out my recipes for ideas!
4. Donate food online with delivery service from your local supermarket. Here are some links to some chain stores throughout the U.S. who may deliver in your area: Safeway Trader Joe's (Manhattan delivery only) Stop & Shop Vons Albertsons D'Agostino (NYC) Whole Foods (those lucky devils!)
5. Start your own local collection among neighbors, family and friends to give to the local Food Bank or Salvation Army. While you're at it, it's a good time to give books and used clothing, shoes and coats for the winter.
What are some ways you like to give back during the holidays? Please share - I'd love to hear your inspiration.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com.
With lots of food on the table this Thanksgiving, it's sooo easy to overdo it. A tasty side dish that is a natural accompaniment to meat is raw, naturally fermented sauerkraut. Sky-high in vitamin C, this great natural source of probiotic enzymes are great digestive "soldiers" for any meal. All you need is about a tablespoon for digestive support - that's it!
By far the best tasting sauerkraut I've ever had was in Germany at the Hofbrau Haus. It was smooth and didn't make my 19-year-old face pucker when I ate it, like the canned variety my mom used to serve.
A very close second is made by Alexander Valley Gourmet, made in small batches, available in the refrigerated section of better grocery stores in the Bay Area. Not one for short cuts, owner Dave Ehreth, a former electrical engineer, makes it the right way with only two magical ingredients: sea salt and brine starter. What else is essential for fabulous-tasting, healthy sauerkraut? Time: about 2 weeks.
Most canned sauerkraut on the shelf - and some refrigerated varieties - has added vinegar and/or sugar for quick fermentation. However, time is the most necessary ingredient to develop sauerkraut's beneficial probiotic enzymes. Further, any heat used in processing to increase shelf life will sadly kill off most, if not all, the probiotic benefit.
For my friends and family on the East Coast, Dave told me about a fabulous natural pickle fermenter in the Boston area, Food & Wine magazine award-winning Moonbrine. Sold in Boston and NYC, they don't make sauerkraut, but I would imagine their pickles are fabulous, and a great alternative to sauerkraut.
You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's
yours to keep for the entire period.
2.
You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time
informal school called, "life."
3.
There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of
trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much
a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."
4.
Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be
presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you
have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5.
Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that
doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are
still lessons to be learned.
6.
"There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has
become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again
look better than "here."
7.
Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate
something about another person unless it reflects to you something you
love or hate about yourself.
8.
What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools
and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice
is yours.
9.
Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions
lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
It's about that time again for that great American ritual ~ Thanksgiving.
Most folks think it's essential to have a turkey, so I've compiled a list of sources for you so you can get a jump start on your planning.
I believe that the flavor of an organic pastured turkey is sublime - moist and juicy breast without the brining and flavorful meat that makes gravy to die for.
Below are some different kinds of turkeys:
Free-Range - close to organic, but their feed is not. A more economical choice that's healthier than the mass-raised turkeys. I would brine this bird for a day or so in heavily salted water to ensure moist meat. Organic - moist, flavorful meat that doesn't need brining to produce signature juicy slices of breast. Heritage - often the Narragansett turkey, which features darker meat that tastes a little more gamey than the organic or broad-breasted variety. It's closer to the wild turkey that the settlers would have eaten. Many are grown in Iowa and Kansas and shipped around the U.S.
Although I appreciate all the love and care that goes into the Heritage turkey and believe that it should be supported, I prefer the taste of organic turkey raised on a small farm. Here are my favorite vendors:
Next time you pop a snack into your bag, try using these little 4 oz. Ball canning jars instead of plastic. They're dishwasher safe and cost just a buck at your local hardware store (or buy a case online for less than that).
Here's just three nifty ideas for this sturdy little glass container:
- Peanut butter for dipping apple slices
- Hummus dip for veggies
- Trail mix snack
Also, I use them all the time when cooking to store everything from sea salt by the stove to tiny leftovers, chopped garlic and onion (the seal is great so the fridge won't smell).
I bet there are a thousand other uses for this kind of container. What else could you use this little guy for?
My dad in New Hampshire can't get the kind of fresh produce that I can here in California, so I like to find things that are not too perishable that I can send back to him that I know he'll enjoy.
Today, I found something I know he's going to love: Orange Honey Organic Almonds.
Farmer Francesca's almonds have a clean, slightly sweet taste with barely a hint of orange that really delights the 'buds. They are not pasteurized, which means that they are not subjected to a blast of high heat that would turn the oils rancid while attempting to sterilize.
N.B., In the last year or so, it has become law for retailers to sell only pasteurized almonds, which I think is a crying shame. We grow our own walnut trees so I know first hand that when trees are healthy and the nuts are handled with care in small batches then you don't have to worry about weird organisms popping up unexpectedly.
Good News! Francesca ships! You can have her ship you out a 16oz pack on her website at http://shop.francescasorganicalmonds.com You may want to ask for the Orange Honey variety, since it isn't shown on her website. She also offers slivered almonds (great for salads and atop fish), (steam) blanched, roasted and unroasted. Perfect as a gift or with dishes for the holidays!
A delicious snack to tide you over between meals is apple slices with peanut or almond butter. Chef Bobo of the Calhoun School in Manhattan remarked that putting an apple slicer next to a bowl of apples in the lunchroom had the fall fruit going from forgotten to fabulous.
As kids, we always used an apple slicer when slicing apples - it made it much more fun than just biting into a side of an apple. Using a squeeze of lemon juice keeps open sides from turning brown when packing for lunch. And a little cinnamon spice "makes everything nice"~ use it to help regulate blood sugar levels whenever eating sweets.
For my Facebook friends, check out recipes, my blog and more at www.SandraKeros.com
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