Brining a Turkey

This post is going to be a bit different than all of my other posts. I am brining a turkey today to get ready to fry it on Thursday. Normally this is Chef Delima's job, but he will be out of town this year, so it falls to me. For the last three years all I have had to do is buy the turkey. Then Chef Delima picks up frozen turkey and does the rest. However, I have to say I am really excited. Whenever I get to cook something new I feel like a real chef. I am not a real chef, but it is fun to pretend. And since I an following a real chef's recipe I can be a pretty good faux-chef!!  If you would like to receive these directions in written form, feel free to email me and I can get you the full directions. rubyroadcreations[at]gmail[dot]com.

When I am cooking, I really like to have all my ingredients set out and ready to go. Most of the time I even measure it all out and put it in little bowls like they do on the cooking shows, because it makes me feel like a real chef, plus, it is a little easier for me clean as I go. So here are all of my ingredients (except for the apple cider vinegar which I forgot and had to go back to the store for).

As you can see, I have all the essentials, turkey, parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, sugar, lemons, goldfish and coffee. Of course, if you're a mom, you know the goldfish are for the little fingers what want to snitch things, and goldfish are much better tasting than anything else on the counter. And the coffee is for me, because i had to get up at 615 am to help my husband (pictured below) take his car into the shop. Now onto the directions!!

First get your self a cooler. (actually you should probably get a turkey first.) Make sure it is clean and will hold approximately 4-5 gallons of water.

Next boil one gallon of water and disolve 4 cups of salt and 4 cups of sugar.

 While you are waiting for the water to boil, tape 2 wooden spoons together so you can have a spoon long enough to stir the salt and sugar without burning your hand. This step is optional.

Here is my great spoon!! and this is what you get for asking your husband to take a picture for you . . .

What a sexy man!! YOU CANT HAVE HIM, HE IS MINE!

After salt and sugar have disolved in the boiling water you need to let it cool down to room temperature. You can do a number of things while you are waiting for this. Here is what i did:

  Yup, you guessed it, I calibrated my thermometer. I mean, what else should I have done? Laundry? clean the kitchen? Those are all boring. Calibrating is exciting!!! Now I know you all wish you had my life! A life where calibrating is exciting! Don't hate me because my life is wonderful.

After calibrating your thermometer and waiting for your solution to cool down, now time to add everything to the cooler! Start with 3 gallons of water and then add the following:

 One bunch of fresh rosemary

 One bunch of fresh thyme (my favorite spice/herb recently)

 Fresh parsley

1 Tbsp whole black peppercorns

3 half lemons, squeezed, and 1 cup apple cider vinegar

 Then add the gallon of the salt and sugar water, the turkey and 4 cups of ice and let it marinate for at least 24 hours. The idea is to get your turkey submerged in the water. My turkey is currently floating a bit so I will have to see what I can do about that. I am open to suggestions here.

So, that is my blog today. Brining a turkey. It was fun and not too hard. I will try to post on Friday (after i get home from Black Friday shopping!!!) a picture of the final product, the fried turkey!!! Yum yum.

And now for some random pictures of what was going on while I was brining and blogging.

 The advantages of having Daddy work from home, Ruby can play a few quick games of Chutes and Ladders. What a lucky little girl!

The little man totally OUT going on 3 hours as I type. He has been fighting a little runny nose so I guess he needs it. I gave him some Elderberry this morning, in a shot glass. Is that bad parenting? Not sure, but he was loving the cow on the shot glass. It was a gift from Switzerland. Funny what little ones like.

Now I am off to finish laundry, clean my kitchen and the rest of my house because my Mother-in-Law comes tomorrow! 

Let the holiday's begin! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Apron for Holly!

This week has been weird. I have had no motivation to do anything. I don't even have motivation to sew and that is what makes this week really weird. But I have sewn some. I think I just don't have any projects that I am really excited about that I can work on right now. My Evening empire dress is still waiting on some more fabric because I cut out the pieces wrong and ran out of fabric.
But, on Sunday my friend, Holly, asked if i could make an apron with a ruffle. I knew I had a pattern for aprons so i dug through all my scraps and this is what I came up with.

The colors aren't the best, but it was the best I could do with scraps. It is fully lined and I am thinking it needs a pocket on the skirt, but I am not sure. Any suggestions? Pockets, no pockets? It seems like I ask that question a lot!

The other little project I finished this morning is another little mini skirt I call Downtown Mini. I did the same style as the Bite Me skirt but on the Downtown Mini I used black blanket binding for the hem. I didn't have enough bias tape to do the hem, so I thought I would try the blanket binding. I think it gives it a certain . . . je ne sais quoi!

Here are some additional shots of the Downtown Mini and me trying to decide which boots to wear with it!!

 Grey heals? or

Black flats?

Opinions welcomed!

And last but not least a few shots of my wonderful little "helper!"

What a stinkin' cutie!!

Pockets and a "Bite Me" skirt!

I have had the most wonderful day. My husband has kept track of the kids most of the day so I could do projects and fun things!! So here is what I did today.
I finally added pockets to my  Liverpool Dress:

I just made some patch pockets and I did put them at an angle as suggested by my friend Kathy Kluthe. I used the pocket instructions from Amy Butlers rain coat pattern for a gathered pocket. I thought I could figure it out, but whenever I do this, the shape of the pocket comes out wonky. So lately, if i am trying something different than the pattern says, I try to find another pattern with pieces and instructions. Anyway, the pockets is for the girls size 8-14, but it worked for what I wanted on my dress.
And, since my wonderful husband was watching the kids, I was able to do a little shopping and I found great boots at Kohl's. They totally make the whole outfit. This is what I am wearing to church tomorrow, minus the hat, but it was needed for the picture as it is Saturday and I didn't fix my hair.

Then, earlier this week I received some fabric in the mail. I had to order some more of a fabric called Downtown which I am using for the Empire Evening dress. And while shopping at uberstitch on etsy, I found some fabric called Bite Me and I had to get it. I couldn't help it. The name of the fabric was so appealing that I had to get a 1/2 yard. I didn't even know what I would make with it but I bought it!!
So, I decided to make a skirt out of it, for me. Usually a 1/2 yard is not enough for a skirt, but I couldn't resist making a Bite Me skirt! It is just a simple short A-line, but I think it turned out pretty good.

I made a bais tape waist band that I learned in Diana Rupp's Sewing Studio class offered on Craftsy.com. Its easy and very stable. Then, since it was already kinda short, I put bais tape around the bottom instead of a hem. It took me about 30 minutes from cut out to finish. I should have put my cowboy boots on for the picture, but I forgot.
So, I hope you all had a productive day as well. Have a wonderful evening!

Quilting Advise!

Well, yesterday afternoon I was working in the back yard in my tank top and today there is 4 inches of snow on the ground. I seriously love Colorado! But today is the perfect day for sewing! I am super excited to start on my new Empire Evening Dress but I am afraid also. The fabric is so wonderful that I don't want to mess it up! Here is the problem I am having: as you can see the the picture below the dress has zig zag triangles and it looks so great, but when i follow the directions my triangles don't have points. See pictures below:

Can you see how my triangles are flat on top? How do I get them to pave points? I don't understand. Before I put the rows together they have perfect points, but then when I put the rows together it "cuts" off the points? Does this matter? You can really tell in this practice dress I made for Ruby but the dress I am making is all black and white and grey so maybe it won't matter as much. Any pointers on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I wanted to post some better pictures of the Liverpool dress I finished. I finally got some OK pictures of me in the dress.

Trying to be a little creative because the lighting in my house is not good. Plus I probably hadn't showered that day so I couldn't put my face in the shot. But I am pleased how it turned out. Now I just need some calf high black boots to finish off the look. PLUS, I totally forgot to add pockets! I will do that today Yay! A project that I can finish today!

Well, I better stop ignoring my children and play with them in the snow! Enjoy your day wherever you are!