Super Turkey!

I ordered a Heritage Turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner from the same place I get my beef, chicken and cheese farm share each week. They asked me what size I'd like and I chose a 16-18 lb.

She called me back to say that the turkeys were extra happy and healthy this year. They are ranging from 20-40 lbs. each.

40 lbs! Would that even fit into my oven? Your oven?

Those are some seriously happy turkeys.

And we're gonna have lots of leftovers.

Prophetic

My office is almost the last one at the end of a long hallway. I often think it moves farther and farther away when I am in a hurry to get there or to get to the bathroom which is at the opposite end.

However, my landmark to know how close I am is the exit signs that hang above my doorway. Of course the arrow is pointing to the right and my office is the left, but somehow I find that a bit poetic or maybe a sign of a different sort.

Not Bad

Though I haven't completed everything on my "to do" list for October - I didn't do half bad considering I have been sick the entire month.

• Put all clean clothes away - I've been living out of clothes baskets for quite awhile. We are having a new furnace/A-C installed next week and they have to get to the furnace closet through our room. Good luck. Done!
• Do a pantry & freezer inventory.
• Rip all plants out of container pots and store pots for the winter.
• Pull out all our winter coats and clothes. Done!
• Glean my closet and dressers of clothes I no longer can or will wear. Donate to Goodwill. Done!
• Deep clean our bedroom. I feel like it is the only room that doesn't get a regular dusting, mopping, etc. because no one sees it.
• Start thinking about a Thanksgiving menu. Test drive some recipes.
• Lose 10 lbs. Done! This was very easy since I was sick. I actually lost 19 lbs.
• Get a hair trim. Done!
• Clean out bathroom closet. There is a least 10 half full bottles of lotion and hair spray in there.

Who Makes Up This Stuff?

I always thought the best job out there would be the person who named paint colors? I mean seriously who wouldn't want to name the same shade of taupe Fawn's Breath, Sky Musk and Burnt Blossom?

But I think a newer maybe more techie version of this job is what the geeks are calling their many computer/data devices. Like who decided on thumb drive? Or Slingbox? Or even mouse?

Just wondering.

Shaking It Off - Donning An Apron

I have been sick with what started as a cold four weeks ago and then turned into an ear infection followed by bronchitis and ended up in the early stages of pneumonia.

The doctor said with my illness in September and then four weeks of this crap, my body just had no reserves to kick the virus' butt. But it sure kicked mine.

Today is day 6 of sitting in this house and up until yesterday, it didn't bother me because I felt so bad.

But that also meant, I wasn't cooking and when I did eat, it was either chicken noodle soup, scrambled eggs or fast food.

I was sick of it as I am sure my husband was too.

So yesterday I actually sat down and prepared a menu for the weekend and following week. The weeknights were easily prepared meals because with work, that is what they have to be or I give up and we order pizza.

But this weekend, I planned to cook - really cook.

And I did. It wore me out - but it felt good to be in the kitchen with an apron on and to actually set down with a plate of good food - not a bag of crap.


Last night I made polenta from scratch, chilled it and then cut it into squares and pan fried it in butter. I then grilled two small pieces of beef tenderloin to place on the polenta.



Then I sauteed red peppers, green peppers, and red onions in some olive oil. Adding dried cranberries and chopped marcona almonds, I topped it with some balsamic vinegar and let it reduce down.


This became the wonderful sweet and tangy topping for the steak that already topped the polenta.

Total yum. I rocked this out of the house.