I’ve got another quickie knitting project to crank out. Back in August when I visited my brother and his family I promised to knit a bathrobe for my niece’s American Doll. It turned out to be quite easy to find a pattern and looked like a very speedy little knit. Here’s the beginning of it in Red Heart Baby Clouds which should safe to machine wash and dry- perfect for a busy household with kiddos.


Joining us for Thanksgiving this year were Jason’s parents and my sister with her kids. Back in June the meat CSA sent a letter that the turkey poults had arrived, both Spanish Chocolate and Naraganssett and we planned to request a turkey when they became available. It’s a flat rate no matter the size so we requested a medium. This is only the third year the farm has raised turkeys so they are still working the kinks out. This year a medium turkey turned out to be 31 pounds. We worried about how to cook such a beast and I bought a disposable pan rated for 25 pounds, the largest I could find. (My lovely copper roaster is a few inches to small for this big beastie.) With the hearth kit removed he fit nicely into the oven and I have to say it was the juiciest turkey I’ve made to date. The table was set and we had just enough china for the 8 of us. We had no major mishaps, the turkey was done on time, Heather’s sprouts where a hit and the kids love the rolls and mashed potatoes.
Brined Roast Turkey
30 pound fresh turkey
water to cover by a few inches
2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups Wild Turkey
We use a rectangular plastic bin for doing the brine that just fits into our refrigerator. Combine all ingredients except the turkey and stir vigorously until the salt and sugar are well dissolved. Chill completely then add the turkey and let sit overnight in this solution.
The next morning loosen the skin all over. Because the turkey has been brined there is no need to salt it. Season with pepper and rub butter and herbs de Provence under the skin. Place the turkey on a rack in the roasting pan breast side down. Roast at 350 F for 90 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and flip the turkey so that the breast is right-side up. Continue roasting until the turkey measures 165 F with the meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part. I tent the turkey with foil until the last 30 minutes of cooking. The juices should run clear when the thermometer is removed. Allow the turkey to stand, tented with foil, at least 30 minutes before carving.
A few years ago Dad brought me some of my grandmother's things. I've been planning to do something with these photographs for awhile now but first I wanted to get them scanned and digitized so they'd be easy to share with other family members. I thought the scanning would be good busywork while I'm on knitting rest and applied myself to the project this week. The result is a nice Flickr set that still needs annotating but it's a great start on a long overdue task.

On Christmas Eve morning we received some terrible news. Daniel's father Keith had a very bad stroke and was in the hospital on life support. Later that day a decision was made to take him off life support on the advice of doctors. At 3:45 am the following morning he died. Despite the differences that led to our parting, he was always a lot of fun and the kids loved him dearly. This photo was taken the day Daniel was born. Chris was 5 and Kathryn was 6.