Saturday, December 28, 2013

My Version of Turkey Day

Yesterday I cooked the three turkeys that Number One Son had brought me a while back.  Before de-boning, they together weighed a little over 42 pounds, which translated into 22 pints of turkey.

My family refers to Number One Son as "Mom's Enabler," due to the fact that he is the one who brings me Farmer's Market produce and meat on sale from the grocery, all to can or dehydrate.  Well, he did it again.  He brought me a new pressure canner.  The one I have been using holds 8 pints.  The new one holds 16 pints.  Both are merrily cooking away as I write.

Many times I have worked far into the night canning 8 pints of meat at a time.  Meat in pint jars require an hour and 15 minutes of pressure time, plus 45 minutes of heating up time and another half hour to 45 minutes of cool down time.  It is such a treat to be able to can all 22 pints at once.  I still have my biggest stock pot full of turkey broth to can, but I should be able to finish all of it by supper time, as opposed to the wee hours of the morning as I have done in the past.

So thank you, my enabler son.  My life has suddenly become easier.

2 comments:

  1. Your post reminded me of years past, when the turkey carcass was turned into soup, which was frozen for future meals.

    Looking back, my mother was frugal, yet we ate well. A friend once commented after a visit: "Well one things for sure, you sure have raised some healthy children."

    I laugh about the comment. It was so true and we were blessed.

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  2. My parents were frugal as well, and we never went hungry. I suppose because of the way I was raised, I hate to see anything go to waste. Sometimes I will make soup from the carcass, but right now I am filling holes in my food storage, so turkey broth seemed like a good idea. I really like the part where I don't have to run to the store every time bad weather is in the forecast!

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