Friday, November 28, 2008

Best Ever Turkey Soup Recipe

This is for Matt and Pilar (and anyone else who may want to give this a try!)...enjoy!

Keep all the scraps from the turkey i.e. juices, gravy, bones, turkey insides, onions, apples, etc. The steps to preparing a good soup are:

• Prepare the stock (broth)
• Prepare the soup

Turkey Stock (Broth)
The nice thing about a stock is that anything can be used; the ends and skins of vegetables, bones, etc. You don’t want to use old rotten stuff, just stuff that you would normally throw away like the skin of an onion or the end of a carrot. Here are the basic ingredients for preparing a stock.

• Carrots
• Onions
• Garlic
• Celery
• Turkey Bones
• Left over gravy
• Any of the left over vegetables
• Whole Peppercorn
• 2 cups of turkey or chicken broth
• Water
• Olive Oil

Pull all the good meat off the turkey bones and set aside. (The good turkey meat will be used for the soup.) Rough cut the onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. Keep all the ends and peels in a separate bowl. Throw in the olive oil and let it get hot. Throw in the onions and let them cook until they are slightly caramelized. Then throw in the garlic. After the onions and garlic and caramelized, throw in the celery and carrots. Let those cook for a few minutes. Once those have cook for just 2 or 3 minutes, throw in about ½ cup of chicken/turkey broth. Stir together and then add the bones, peels, ends, leftover gravy, and leftover vegetables. Stir and let those cook for just a few minutes. Then, add the remainder of chicken/turkey broth and enough water to completely cover everything. Let that comes to a boil and then add a half handful of peppercorn. Turn the heat down so that is at a slight simmer. Let the stock simmer for atleast 3 to 4 hours, if not more. The idea is to reduce the stock by a 1/4 . So if the liquid comes up to the top, you want to let it simmer until the liquid only comes 3/4 of the way up. Once the stock is finish, you will want to strain the liquid through a fine strainer or china cap if you have one. A regular strainer will work. You may have to fish out little pieces if they slip though the holes. Set the liquid aside and discard all the bones, vegetables, etc.

Turkey Soup
This soup is not based on measurements. If you like an ingredient, add a little more or less. But I will put some quantities just for guidance. It also depends on how much you want to make. Here is what you will need for the soup:

• 3 Cloves of Garlic
• 2 small shallots
• 2 cups of chicken (or of the Turkey Stock)
• Vegetables of your liking, cooked (I usually use carrots, peas, corn, and onions; You can use fresh veggies which is always better or you can cheat like I do since I am lazy and use half of a family size of frozen mixed vegetables)
• Leftover turkey
• Egg noodles or bowtie pasta
• ½ cup of Heavy Cream
• Turkey Stock
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of the pot. Chop garlic and shallots and throw them in. Let them caramelize so that the bottom of the pan has a few little brown spots (don’t burn them). Then throw in a cup or so of your chicken broth or turkey stock and scrape the bottom so the brown spots come up. Now throw in the cooked veggies and stir them around. Add the turkey and mix it well letting it get nice and hot. Now pour enough of the Turkey stock so there is atleast 2 parts turkey stock to one part ingredients. Let all this come to a boil. When it reaches a boil, add in the heavy cream and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy.

*There are 2 secrets to making this soup taste really good. Number 1 is ‘Turkey preparation.” If the turkey is juicy and flavorful, the soup will also be flavorful. Number 2 is the Stock preparation. This is the base of the soup. If you take time to make a good stock, then the soup will taste very good. If the stock is done well, sometimes you won’t even have to add salt and pepper to taste when finishing the soup.

Here we are enjoying turkey soup with some friends last night. This is good comfort food that you will want to share with friends and family!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Best Ever Turkey Soup

Stay tuned for Best-Ever Turkey Soup recipe....compliments of my wonderful husband!! This is a family tradition for us and one that we look forward to almost more than the turkey!!

BTW...Don't throw away any leftover turkey scraps (meat, bones, gravy, aromatic spices, etc...) They can all be used in the soup!

Best Turkey Ever!!

I finally got Jeff to actually write down what he does to prepare his turkey. Every year he makes it a little bit different, but this year was my favorite, so I thought I would share. It's a bit involved, but soooo worth it! If you don't have time to do it all, at least make the gravy! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The first thing you want to do is ‘Brine’ the Turkey. This is done one day in advance of Thanksgiving Day. You are going to brine the Turkey for at least 6 hours up to 24 hours. Brine is much like marinating meat, i.e. steak, pork, chicken, etc.



Brining the Turkey
Use a very large pot, bowl, bucket, etc. whatever will allow you to submerge the Turkey in liquid. I used a mop bucket. (Don’t worry, I bought it brand new just for this use.)
· Add 2 cups of cooled vegetable stock (broth) and enough water to your apparatus so the Turkey will be submerged
(Don’t add Turkey yet)
· Add 2 or 3 cups of Salt, Kosher, regular, or sea salt. (I used sea salt)
· Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar; regular or brown (I used regular)

Now you want to stir in the salt and sugar until it is dissolved. Then:
· Add 2 purple onions; quartered
· Add 1 whole garlic bulb (probably 7 to 10 cloves)
· Add approx. 1/8 cup of whole peppercorns
· Add a handful of garlic pepper
· Add 2 tbls. cummin
· Add several sprigs of rosemary (fresh)
· Add several sprigs of thyme (fresh)
· Add several sprigs of Basil (fresh)

If you can’t get these fresh, you can use the dry stuff.

Make sure that mixture is completely cooled before you submerge the turkey, or else the turkey will begin to cook. Stir mixture and then submerge turkey in the mixture. Make sure the turkey stays fully submerged. So if it floats, you can put cans or coke bottles on top to keep it submerged. Keep submerged for at least 6 hours, up to 24 hrs. Overnight is the best. If you don’t have room in the refrigerator, you can substitute the water with ice water and place it in a cool place; covered.

Roasting the Turkey
You want to start preparing your turkey, depending on the size, 3 to 4 hrs. in advance. A 14 lb. turkey should take between 2 and 2 ½ hrs. total cooking time. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. You want to take your turkey out of the brine and wash it off. After turkey has been thoroughly rinsed off, place in a shallow baking pan, on a rack.

Now you want to prepare the aromatic mixture that will go in the cavity of the turkey. Here is what you will need:
· 1 apple; quartered
· ½ purple onion; quartered
· 5 -6 garlic cloves
· ½ lemon
· 2 sprigs rosemary
· 2 sprigs thyme
· 2 basil leaves
· 1 ½ cups water

Take rosemary, thyme and basil and stuff them in the turkey cavity. Take remainder of ingredients and place them in a dish, along with the water, and microwave for 5 min. While these are cooking in the microwave, coat turkey with canola or vegetable oil. When the 5 minutes are up, take the dish out of the microwave and stuff the ingredients that are in the bowl into the cavity of the turkey. Before you place the turkey in the oven, you need to make a triangle out of tin foil, that will cover only the breast area of the turkey. This is so that the breast does not dry out before the dark meat is done. Form the tin foil onto the breast and then take it off and lay it to the side. This is done so that you do not have to later fold the foil over the turkey when it is hot. Go ahead and add 2 cups of chicken broth to the shallow pan to prevent burning. Now place turkey in the oven that is set at 500 degrees and cook for 30 minutes.


After 30 minutes, pull turkey out of the oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees. If you have a digital thermometer that will alert you when it reaches a certain temperature, you want to stick this into the fattest part of the breast and set the thermometer to alert you when it reaches a temperature of 161 degrees. If you do not have this kind of thermometer, then for a 14-16 lb. turkey, you want to let it cook for approx. 1 ½ -2 hours. Be sure to check with a regular thermometer, to see if the meat has reached an internal temperature of 161 degrees, making sure you are placing the thermometer in the fattest part of the breast. Once your turkey reaches 161 degrees, you will want to pull the turkey from the oven and set it someplace where you can let it rest, fully covered with tin foil, for 15 – 20 minutes. This is because the turkey will continue to cook and if you immediately cut into it, all the juices will pour out. So if your turkey came with a pop-up thermometer, first of all, don’t pay any attention to it and secondly, don’t pull it out before or after the turkey is done. Wait until you go to carve the turkey to pull it out. You want to be sure the turkey rests for 15-20 minutes.

Gravy
Some of this you will be able to prepare while your turkey is in the oven. Here is what you will need:
· 3 garlic cloves
· 1 large shallot
· 2 cups chicken broth
· 1 stick butter
· ½ cup flour
· turkey drippings
· 2 tbls. olive oil
. salt and pepper to taste

Chop garlic and shallot and set aside. In small sauté pan, melt butter and add flour. Add flour a little bit at a time, till consistency becomes almost like a thick paste. You will also notice a nutty, almond smell. This is called a roux. This is to thicken sauces. In large pot or sauté pan, add 2 tbls. olive oil and sauté garlic and shallots till they begin to caramelize in bottom of pan. One they are caramelized, add 1 cup chicken broth. Let this simmer for a few minutes. Take all of turkey drippings and add to pan. If this is not going to be enough gravy, then add the second cup of chicken broth, or as much as is needed. Bring sauce to a boil. Then add roux, a little bit at a time, (Do not add all of it at once) continually stirring, until you reach the correct thickness. This has been obtained when you place a spoon in the gravy and when you pull it out, the gravy coats the spoon. Put gravy in blender and puree till smooth. If gravy is as thick as you like it, you are ready to serve. If you would like it thicker, return it to the pot, bring to a boil and add any remaining roux, until you reach your desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Next...pour gravy on turkey and enjoy! We sure did!!



Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Cereal Box Turkeys!

Aaron and I worked on the cutest cereal box turkeys last night and had a blast, too!! I got the idea from Megan at Plum Pudding. I ended up covering a glass jar that I had with decorative paper and some ribbon. Then I poured some sea salt into the jar and stuck our turkeys in the jar. Now we have a fun, new centerpiece for our Thanksgiving meal. Go give it a try......




Saturday, November 22, 2008

Catching Up With a Long Lost Friend!

I was able to spend a few hours this afternoon with someone I hadn't seen in almost 15 years! Araceli was one of my best friends growing up here in Spain and we had lost touch after we both got married. One of these days I will dig through my pile of old photos and put up a before and after of the two of us. I'm sure it will be quite humorous, what with the curly, puffy bangs that we used to have and all..haha. I am just thankful that after such a long time, we were able to see each other again and this time, with much flatter, straighter bangs! haha

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

I thought I would share a resource for those of you who live and work in spanish-speaking countries. Jeff just finished the new website for the church that we are helping in right now in Madrid and he has uploaded the lessons from the lady's meetings that we have been having over the last few months.

We have been taking the lessons from the book Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free (Mentiras Que Las Mujeres Creen y La Verdad Que Les Hace Libres) by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. They have been a blessing to me and I wanted to share them with you guys, too. You can go to www.iglesiabautistavr.com and you will find the audio lessons and accompanying lesson sheets under "Recursos" and then "Reunion de Mujeres".

p.s. Pilar, the lessons are up now! = )

Saturday, November 15, 2008

7 Random Things About Me


Ok, so I was tagged a while ago by Patty and I keep meaning to respond, so here goes!

1. My husband accidently proposed to me after we had known each other for only 4 weeks, when a "friend" he trusted told him that "I will miss you" was actually said, "Will you marry me" in Spanish. I almost took him up on the offer right then and there! I'm so glad he asked again later!

2. Jeff and I have been married for 7 years and we have already lived in 10 different homes, 3 different counties and 3 different countries! The longest we have ever lived in one place is a year and a half. Maybe one day I will get to throw my packing boxes away for good!

3. In my lifetime I have visited 12 different countries and lived in 3 different continents!

4. I carry hand soap with me everywhere I go and am a major stickler about washing your hands in public bathrooms. The few times my soap was left at home, I have been known to ask the store clerk to please put some soap in the bathroom so that I can wash my hands! Once in Peru someone actually ran to the store next door and bought me a new bar of soap! I felt bad and paid the man...he just smiled. I know what he was thinking... crazy gringo lady!

5. I like to set my alarm for at least 45 minutes before I get up so that I can hit snooze several times. Problem is, so does my husband, so for almost an hour before getting up, there is a lot of ringing and alarm clock slamming going on! Good thing our son Aaron sleeps like a rock!

6. When I am ready to purchase my groceries, I have to organize them on the conveyer belt first by frozen food, veggies, dairy, etc..., or else it drives me crazy! Weird, huh?

7. I LOVE mint chocolate chip ice cream. I mean,... does ice cream really even come in any other flavors?!!

I am suppose to tag 7 other people...so watch out you guys!! = )

Friday, November 14, 2008

Thanks for Praying

I wanted to let everyone know that as of last night, the doctors told Diana and Jose that they could no longer see the baby, nor hear his hearbeat. So this morning, they went ahead with the D&C. Thank you so much for praying for Diana over the last week. Please continue to pray during the next few days as she recovers and also, that the Lord would give both her and Jose the grace and peace they need at this time. As someone who has also experienced the pain of a miscarriage, I know how difficult and heartbreaking it can be, but I also know how real God's grace is during those times and we can rest assured that His way is perfect! Thanks again for praying!

Our Lobster Feast!

Jeff and I were out this morning and just happen to walk by a stand with fresh seafood and wouldn't you know it, they had...Lobster..ON SALE!!
We couldn't resist,..we're weak, so we brought two of those guys home with us and sat down to a wonderful seafood feast. But not before having a little fun with them first! haha



Yummy! Check out the size of this one!


Hey there!


So, you wanna mess with me, do ya?


We're eating what for lunch? aaah! (jeje..Aaron actually loves them, too!)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Keep Praying!

Thanks so much to each one of you who has promised to pray for my friend Diana. What an encouragement! Here is a quick update....

The doctor said that the reason for the hematoma is because apparently their is a vein that leads to the embryonic sac that is not attached to it. So instead of the blood flowing as it should, it is flowing into her uterus. So it had formed into a very large hematoma that almost doubled in size in 3 days time! So she has been on complete bed rest for about a week now. This has been really tough on her, because she is the type of person who likes to keep busy and doesn't do much sitting around!

She has an appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning to see if the hematoma has shrunk at all and to see how the baby is doing. I will let you know what the doctor says as soon as we hear something.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

BTW...forgot to mention that Romy and Miguel are from Peru and they made us some wonderful peruvian food! My favorite...Papa la Huancaina


Today we spent the afternoon with some friends from church, Romy and Miguel. Aaron and their daughter, Romina, were doing so much laughing, that I thought I would see what they were up to and caught some pictures of them having fun! Here is my son "the clown" and Romina's huge Pooh Bear!


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Please Pray!!

I want to share a prayer request on behalf of a friend of mine. Her name is Diana and she and her husband just found out that they are expecting their first baby. They are both members of the church we are attending.

At this moment though, she also has a huge hematoma that is growing around the baby, which could very easily kill the baby. The doctor has ordered complete bed rest, in hopes that the hematoma will shrink and no longer put the baby at risk. Diana is 6 weeks along right now.

I would like to ask those of you who would pray to let me know by leaving a comment after this post, so that I can also let Diana know that others are praying.

I will keep you guys posted as soon as I hear of any new developments.

Pray for...
* Baby's safety
* Diana and Jose to be at peace at this time
* Wisdom for the doctors
* That God would be glorified in this
* For Diana to REALLY take it easy, as this will be hard for her

Trip to Granada


We had such a great weekend....last weekend. I can't believe it has already been a week! We drove down to Granada on Thursday and spent a couple days with the Stark and Puente family.

We were able to help pass out many invitations to their inaugural service in December and the Lord opened the doors for opportunities to talk to several people who seemed interested. It was a cold, rainy weekend, but in spite of the weather, the Lord allowed us to pass out almost 600 invitations!

Aside from the blessing of helping out with the invitations, we also had a great time with friends. It has been said that true friends are hard to come by and we have been blessed with just that...good friends! And we thank the Lord for them!

Here are some pictures of the weekend. I wish I could have taken more, but the rain kind of kept me from pulling my camera out too much! Next time!


These walls are over 800 years old!! I love to imagine what it was like for people living here so long ago!







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