Country Cousin

Turkey...

Hi Folks!

Veterans Day 11/11/11 has come and gone, and so has our first real snowfall of the season. The High Holy Days of Deer Season starts on Friday, special not only for the camaraderie of the hunt itself for those who partake, but because that’s the traditional weekend for the Gathering of the Clans in Marinette County.

In our family at least, that always meant a week of little boys listening avidly to their fathers, grandfathers and uncles recounting the foibles of their younger days. Those little boys are men now, with stories of their own that hopefully they will pass along to the next generation of little boys.

Of course Thanksgiving is mid-week, and then it’s pell-mell for Christmas. Where did the year go?

LOST YEARS

Veteran’s Day is over for this year, but the need continues to recognize and appreciate the contributions of those who served, and those who still serve, stateside or overseas, to keep our nation free.

Let’s not let them down by willingly giving up those freedoms. We need to jealously watch our own lawmakers of today to be sure they do not quietly bring about the very changes so many fought so valiantly to prevent.

Many of my grade school classmates in the years immediately following World War II had fathers who served “over there.” Some never got to meet their fathers. They did not come home. Some came back with parts missing. Sometimes those parts were on the inside, where they didn’t show except to the people who lived with them.

Some of my classmates had been five or six years old when they finally got to meet the fathers who had been “over there” fighting when they were born.

I was one of the lucky ones whose father stayed home. He did not feel lucky. It was not by choice. He cried when he was sent home after his physical. Only time I ever saw him cry.

As his part toward the war effort he quit a reasonably comfortable job and went to work in the hell hole that was “the foundry” in those days. Hot, hard, dirty and dangerous work. He wasn’t allowed to go and fight as he wanted, so he fought in his own way at home. He too was a hero, as was almost every American in those war years, making the sacrifices that were needed stateside to keep the American and Allied armies supplied and fed so they could do the job that needed to be done. Dad would have turned 96 at midnight on Veteran’s Day this year. He rarely spoke of it, but I think he never got over his regret that he couldn’t go. He had an almost reverent awe for those who did.

There have been wars since, and many, many veterans who served heroically. News reports today say there are more disabled veterans today than ever before, partly because of modern medical miracles that keep men alive after injuries that would have killed them 20 years or so ago. Those men will continue paying the price of freedom for the rest of their lives. And most of them are dealing heroically and getting on with full and productive lives despite losses of limbs and abilities. Their heroism doesn’t end, and never will as long as they live. God bless them!

Perhaps the difference between perception of the World War II era and all the wars (often euphemistically called “police actions” ) is that in World War II the entire nation was involved. Americans were not all in uniform, but almost uniformly they were in one way or another doing whatever it took to keep this nation and the rest of the world free.

There was an achievable goal to fight for. Everyone fought the fight, and when our side won it was a clear victory. The world turned from the direction it had been going, back toward freedom and away from despotism. That was a very good turn indeed!

There have been mistakes aplenty in the years since, and some successes too, but none that brought such clear-cut national joy as bringing our boys home after the treaties with Germany and Japan were signed.

Let us do our patriotic duty today by ensuring the freedoms they fought for are not allowed to quietly perish. Let us watch vigilantly to be sure our Constitution is not trampled in the name of security, ecology, community planning, or some other “group” cause. When the rights of the individual are trampled the rights of the community soon follow. Freedom can only live from the ground up!

DON’T DRY UP

Heating season is here, and cold weather in general can cause body parts to get dry and unlovely. Somehow females, with our more delicate skin, are more susceptible.

If your lips, hands, feet and elbows are already showing the signs of winter stress, apply this homemade body scrub to get them soft as a baby’s cheek. Mix half a cup of Epsom salts, one tablespoon olive oil and a few drops of lemon, lime, grapefruit, or orange juice. Apply to your lips or other dry areas, rub gently in a circular motion, and then rinse off. Works like magic on work worn hands!

If the rub is part of a manicure though, be sure to wash off thoroughly before applying nail polish, and then wipe nails with a cotton swab dampened in nail polish remover or alcohol, rinse again and dry thoroughly before brushing on the polish.

If your lips are already chapped and peeling you can remove dry flakes by brushing them gently with your toothbrush while brushing your teeth. Then apply some olive oil, vaseline or your favorite lip balm before either going to bed or getting on with your day.

TALKIN’ TURKEY

Larger turkeys are usually less expensive per pound, so buy the largest one you can. If you have a small family, ask the butcher to cut your turkey in half and wrap each half separately. Then you can freeze half and save it for later so you won’t have weeks of Thanksgiving leftovers. Half a turkey is also much easier to handle and prepare for roasting. Just wrap the other half and freeze it to use for Christmas.

BASIC BRINED TURKEY

Brining the bird is particularly helpful if you’re lucky enough to have a wild turkey for the Thanksgiving table. Many of the commercial ones come already brined, and if you’ve purchased one that does, there’s not much point in repeating the effort. On the other hand, if you buy one that hasn’t been brined or injected it generally costs less per pound and you aren’t paying for the weight of the brine. Your call, but this brine is really, really good. Also works great for turkey cooked on the grill.

1 (14 to 16 pound) young turkey

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 gallon chicken stock

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1/2 tablespoon allspice

1/2 tablespoon ginger

1 gallon iced water

For Aesthetics and Aromatics:

1 sliced red apple

1 small sliced red onion

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves sage

Vegetable or Canola oil

BRINE: Combine all brine ingredients, except ice water, in a stock pot, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve solids, then remove from heat, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Early, early, on the day of cooking, or late the night before, combine the brine and ice water in a clean 5-gallon bucket. Place thawed turkey breast side down in brine, cover, and refrigerate or set in cool area (like a basement) for 6 hours. Turn turkey over once, half way through brining.

ROASTING TIME: A few minutes before roasting, heat oven to 500 degrees. Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick, and cup of water in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5 minutes.

Remove bird from brine and rinse inside and out with cold water. Discard brine. Place bird on roasting rack inside wide, low pan and pat dry with paper towels. Tuck back wings and coat whole bird liberally with canola (or other neutral) oil. Put the steeped aromatics into the body cavity along with rosemary and sage, water and all, and rub the mixture around the inside.

Roast on lowest level of the oven at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover breast with double layer of aluminum foil, insert probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and return to oven, reducing temperature to 350 degrees. Set thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees. A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let turkey rest, loosely covered for 15 minutes before carving. The pan drippings make excellent gravy, provided they didn’t burn.

You can also stuff the brined turkey before roasting. Just drain the bird and pat the outside dry, then follow your usual stuffing recipe, which hopefully includes onion, rosemary and sage anyway, but perhaps use slightly less salt than usual. Rub skin with stuffing mixture, melted butter or cooking oil before popping it into the oven to get a nice browned skin.

COOKIN’ TIME

We try to add one or two new recipes to the old tried and true ones every Thanksgiving. Some prove to be keepers and become part of the tradition. Some are good, but don’t quite make the grade. I think these will become regulars. We also try to use home grown or at least native Wisconsin foods as much as possible, because the Thanksgiving feast is a celebration of the bounty God has provided, not a test of how much we can have trucked in.

Thus recipes including Wisconsin-made Maple Syrup and/ or home grown apples fit the bill perfectly. We generally do make some syrup of our own, but missed the chance this year. It’s pricey, but worth it. Nutritionists now are saying that Maple Syrup, especially the darker Grade B syrup, even offers health benefits. Two teaspoons contains 23 percent of the minimum daily requirement of manganese, which helps control blood sugar and rev up the metabolism by getting the thyroid all excited. Also it’s rich in zinc, which stimulates the immune system and helps prevent the common cold.

MAPLE SALAD

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons grainy mustard

1/2 cup olive oil

chopped walnuts

thinly sliced apple, not peeled

baby salad greens

salt and pepper to taste

Arrange the salad greens and apple slices either in a large salad bowl or individual bowls. Sprinkle on the nuts. Mix the syrup, vinegar, mustard, oil, salt and pepper, stir, shake or whisk together and pour over the salad to taste.

MAPLE ROASTED VEGETABLES

One of our favorites always was acorn squash stuffed

1/2 pound acorn squash

1/2 pound parsnips

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 teaspoons corn oil

1 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon butter

1 pound baby peas, frozen

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter

Peel the squash and parsnips and cut each into cubes. Mix in everything else except the butter. Melt the butter in a 9x12” baking pan and pour in the squash mixture. Cover tightly with foil and roast in 375 degree oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes, but save the foil. Take out of oven and push the squash/parsnip mixture into somewhat of a circle, but leave a bit on the bottom of the pan. Dump the peas, into the center, sprinkle on a bit of salt, then sprinkle the brown sugar over all, but mainly on the peas, and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Fold or crumple the foil so it mainly covers the peas and pop back into oven for 15 more minutes or so. Sprinkle first with a bit of salt if you prefer.

CARAMEL APPLE CAKE

So what if you can’t eat all the desserts at one sitting? This is a grand treat to send along with the deer hunters, or to enjoy after or instead of a meal some other time during the week-long holiday. Comes to us courtesy of friend Joanne at Wausaukee. Haven’t tried it yet, but am confident this one will be a keeper! Thanks, Joanne. Happy holidays.

The Cake:

2 cups white sugar

11/2 cups cooking oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 cups flour

3 cups apples, peeled and diced

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream together sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add oil slowly and beat well. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, and then toss dry ingredients with the apples. Mix all this into the sugar, egg and oil mixture. Batter will be very stiff. Spray a Bundt pan with cookin’ spray and pour in the batter. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees.

The Topping:

Make topping about 10 minutes before the cake is to

be done.

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup milk

Cook together for two and a half minutes. As soon as the cake is done, take it out of the oven and pour the hot syrup mixture over the hot cake. Optional: Poke the cake in about 20 places with a long metal skewer to encourage the topping to soak in and through. Let the cake sit until cold, then remove from the pan. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Hint: If the cake doesn’t want to come out of the pan intact, heat it again briefly either in a hot oven or a pan of simmering water to soften the syrup, which will have caramelized bit.

Thought For the Week: Too often we get caught up in the hectic preparations for Thanksgiving that we forget the main purpose is to give thanks to our Creator, who made it all.

What follows are excerpts taken from an old Seneca Indian prayer more than a few historians believe was offered at that first Thanksgiving when the Plymouth settlers finally had enough to eat after their long, hard first winter in the New World.

The prayer:

“Now in the beginning of all things

You provided that we inherit your creation

You said: I shall make the earth on which people shall

live.....”

“...You said that we should always be thankful

For our earth and for each other

So it is that we are gathered here

We are your children, Lord of the Sky...”

“....Now again the smoke rises

And again we offer prayers

You said that food should be placed beside us

And it should be ours in exchange for our labor.

You thought that ours should be a world where green grass

of many kinds should grow

You said that some should be medicines

And that one should be Ona’o, the sacred food, our siste

corn

You gave to her two clinging sisters, beautiful Oa’geta, our

sister beans, and bountiful Nyo’sowane, our sister squash,

The three sacred sisters; they who sustain us.

This is what you thought, Lord of the Sky.

Thus did you think to provide for us,

And you ordered that when the warm season comes,

That we should see the return of life

And remember you, and be thankful, and gather here by the

sacred fire.

So now again the smoke arises

We the people offer our prayers

We speak to you through the rising smoke

We are thankful, Lord of the Sky.”

Could any of us have said it better?

We who enjoy the bounty of America today because those early settlers sought freedom to worship You give thanks today, Lord of Heaven and Earth, for providing so generously for us. Amen.

COUNTRY COUSIN

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