I'm taking a brief hiatus until after the new year. Not to say that I won't blog from time to time, but I know that I have tons of other distractions right now with the holidays upon us. I want to spend this time focused on my family and enjoying the season. I hope you're enjoying the season too and I'll be back strong in the new year. See you in 2010!
Working on getting back into the swing of things. The holidays really have me spinning, but I'm making my list and checking it twice. I only have one more item to purchase and my shopping is done. Next up I'm doing a top to bottom winter clean so we can decorate the house. Also I need to start sewing up O's dress. I'm planning to either make the Feliz dress from farbenmix or my friend Dawn's Annika dress. I'm heading over to the Patsy Aiken's sale tomorrow to see if there's any Christmas fabrics for sale. I haven't been doing much stitching lately (more knitting) but I will definitely get back to it since I miss it.
During this time of parties and festivities I thought I'd share a tasty cocktail for you to whip up. It's definitely a party in a glass!
Strawberry Fusion
1 jigger of DiSaronno Amaretto
1 jigger of Skyy Infusion citrus vodka
1 jigger of X-rated passion fruit liqueur
2 oz. of fresh strawberry puree
Mix all together in a shaker with ice. Drain into a martini glass, garnish with a slice of strawberry and enjoy!
Well, Thursday is Thanksgiving and for many years I've been the official chef of my family's Thanksgiving day feast. I used to fry the turkey. Even though it's so delicious, it's a big hassle. It's also kind of expensive if you're just doing one turkey since you have to use so much oil. Anyways, for the last few years I've been brining the turkey. It's oh so tasty and if you've never tried it, I highly recommend it.
Here's a simple brine recipe to get you started. It should make enough brine for a 14lb bird. Enjoy!
Turkey Brine
1/2 gallon apple cider
2 cup dark brown sugar
11 bottles of dark beer
2 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
1 teaspoon of cloves
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried savory
1/4 cup black peppercorns
2 cinnamon sticks
4 bay leaves
You will need a non-reactive container large enough to hold the turkey. In a stock pot over medium heat combine all the ingredients except for the beer, bring to a low boil. Mix well until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Let it cool. Transfer to your container and add the beer. Place your turkey into the container, make sure the cavity is filled with the brine. Cover with ice and soak the turkey for overnight. Ideally if you can get your container into the fridge that would be better, otherwise make sure that you keep it cold with ice at all times. On the day you're ready to cook it, remove the turkey, pat dry (discard the leftover brine) and cook as directed. A brined turkey will cook somewhat faster so be sure to use your meat thermometer to monitor for doneness.
A group of my friends want to train and run a half-marathon. I might have mentioned once or twice that not only am I not a fan of exercise, I detest running. They want me to sign up for the race too, but I haven't decided if I will. I have however decided that I will challenge myself by training for the race. I think it's a great way to change up my workout, plus it'll be fun to share my progress (or lack thereof) with my friends. I'll keep you posted. The race isn't until April. I downloaded a training schedule and it says it should only take me 10 weeks to train. Uh, yeah...I better start right now.
True to form I started off with a bang and then lost my steam. What am I referring to you ask? Well, I'm participating in a swap on Ravelry and I have yet to finish my swap item. I was super excited and began working diligently on my swap item in the summer, but I lost interest and it's sat incomplete. Well, the week of Thanksgiving is when we're suppose to have these in the mail. Panic time! Actually, not to be too hard on myself, I did finish the original item I had planned to swap. I was just not thrilled with it and I started a second item. It was going along swimmingly until I lost my mojo for it. But, a fire has been lite under my butt because yesterday I got my swap package from my partner and not only was it the loveliest hand knitted shawl, but she included so many other items that I'm ashamed to send her my poorly knitted attempt. However, I can sew and I have some sewn items that I'm sending her and I hope they will overshadow and make up for my knitting. I will be in high gear over the next few days to get this stuff in the mail by Wednesday. When will I ever learn?
In honor of my eldest son, S. who loves a sweet potato pie and always wants one baked at the holidays, I thought I'd share this recipe. I prefer sweet potato over a pumpkin pie. But I don't think it would be a problem to substitute pumpkin if that was what you preferred.
Sweet Potato Pie
1 (1 pound) sweet potato
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup light whipping cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 45 minutes, or until done. Cool them and remove the skin. Mash apart sweet potato in a large bowl. Add butter, and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, whipping cream, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until utensil inserted in center comes out clean.
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