Friday, November 27, 2015

Family

Yesterday was such a nice day, even though it started out not so great.  It started to lightly snow in the morning and made the first ten miles of our journey sort of exciting where the snow stuck to the road and made driving interesting.  Once reaching the freeway the roads were just wet and we arrived at Youngest Son's home on the other side of the city with no problems.  I am thankful that Oldest Son is a good driver and knows how to drive on slippery winter roads.

The turkey dinner with all the trimmings was a treat.  Oldest Daughter brought a corn/cornbread dish that was wonderful  I need to get that recipe.  Maddie Mae had made appetizers by wrapping dill pickles in slices of deli ham and cutting them crosswise.  They were pretty and delicious.  Boston had lined muffin tin cups with pie dough, filled them with apples and spices, added a lattice top and baked them into mini apple pies.  I took one home with me and enjoyed it as a bedtime snack.  I am pleased that my Grands helped in adding to the meal.  After pie with real whipped cream, we headed home, where a nap was necessary!  It was a good day with family.  I am thankful for them all.

Oldest Son and I will have two more turkey dinners this week.  The company Son works for gave each of the employees a turkey, and his is about 20 lbs.  I added a turkey to my grocery order that was on sale at 99 cents a pound.  The lady who does the shopping found the biggest one she could, at 21 lbs.  Neither Son nor I have freezer space for large turkeys, so Son will roast his later today and I will roast mine on Sunday.  Each of us will have leftovers enough to satisfy our appetites (Leftovers are one of the best thing about turkey dinners.) and both of us will be able to squeeze small packages of meat into our respective freezers for future use.

Youngest Son packaged up the scraps and carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey and sent it home with me, knowing that I would put it to good use.  I will wait until the other two turkeys have been cooked, take the remains of all three birds and make turkey broth to can and a batch of homemade turkey soup.  I am glad that I grew up with frugal parents who taught me to make use of everything, including turkey bones.

My grocery order included six bags of frozen hash browns.  I have dehydrated four bags already and the last two are drying now.  Roll breakfast sausage was also on sale and I ordered 12 one-pound rolls.  Three rolls will be made into patties and squeezed somewhere in the freezer.  Hopefully!  The rest I will brown, drain and can tomorrow to add to my food storage shelves.

One last note:  When I arrived at my Youngest Son's home yesterday, my youngest grandson was playing football in the front yard with his neighbor friend.  He wasn't the least bit embarrassed to come running to give his Grandma a hug.  His sisters were at the front door with more hugs.  And when my taller-than-me older grandson arrived, he too delivered a hug for Grandma.  And that, my friends, is what life is all about.

17 comments:

  1. I hope I can score a turkey on clearance this week. I love to make vegetable soup with leftover turkey in it.
    Dehydrating the hash browns is smart. I have not done that although I have dehydrated other frozen foods like carrots and corn and peas.

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  2. Lisa...We will probably be a little bit tired of turkey by next week, but I am really glad to have gotten one on sale. I love homemade soups and turkey soup is a favorite.

    I don't have freezer space for 6 bags of frozen hash browns, but once dehydrated, they fill a 1 gallon freezer bag and can be stored on a shelf. They are so easy to use - just soak in hot water for maybe 20 minutes, drain and fry. Aren't frozen vegetables easy to dehydrate? Love them. Most of my dehydrated vegetables are from frozen, with the exception of carrots and potatoes. Those I buy on sale fresh.

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  3. Vicki, so glad to hear about your Thanksgiving. Family is the most important thing. I actually celebrate both Thanksgivings. I am a US citizen by birth and lived most of my life in the States. I only moved to Canada in 2007 for my marriage. And, yes, it's the same menu! Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC Canada

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  4. SJ...Wow! Two Thanksgivings! How fun is that. Son and I just did some serious damage to the turkey he got at his workplace, and I think we are already getting "turkeyed-out." But the leftovers are always good. And you are right. It is all about family. :)

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  5. Gorges...I am humbled by the knowledge that I am truly blessed to have this family around me. Many are not so fortunate.

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  6. You are truly a blessed woman, Vicki, and we are blessed since you share your life with us. Thank you.

    Fern

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  7. Thank you, Fern. I consider myself the lucky one to have found you and Frank. Your posts keep me on my toes and offer suggestions that make me think and sometimes alter my preparation plans to include a better method. This is me...thanking you.

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  8. Vicki,

    What a wonderful day you had with your family. I'm fortunate also in that I have a family that is not afraid or embarrassed to give hugs all around. What a blessing.

    We had a great day also and like you we had got hit with a snow storm that left about 6 - 8 inches of fresh snow to go through to get to my daughter's place. I'm blessed that my daughter (actually my step-daughter) is very much interested in canning and food preservation and was asking me many questions as to how to prepare and preserve the left-overs from the dinner. She is only 29, but is really wanting to do all she can prepare for her family. I'm truly blessed.

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  9. Jim...I am so glad for you that you had such a lovely day with your family. We - you and I - are truly blessed.

    Our storm wasn't much of one - just enough to stick to the side roads making them slick. The roads were dry by the time we headed for home.

    Isn't it great when we can pass on what we have learned to help those in our family who want to prepare? Good for her in her desire to keep her family fed in the event of a disaster. For many in my generation (you know...the geezers :) ) food preservation is just a way of life. So many of the younger generations have the mistaken notion that life will never change. My youngest son has taught his kids, ages almost 8 years to 13 years, how to garden and can food like tomatoes, salsa and pickles, and how to cook and how to bake bread. When the younger ones want to learn, it gives me hope for the future.

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  10. vicki,
    years ago a home economist on telly said the meat to bone ratio is best in the 12-14 pound turkey, also get a hen bird if you can--more meat per bone.

    when people say they can't stand their kids i think [don't say aloud] 'you raised them.
    what you put into your family is what you get back. you must be a pretty good mom.

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  11. p.s.
    read about the pressure vacuum canner at 'confessions of a crazed cattlewoman'. i had never heard of one. now i want one. no heating and oven use involved.

    her films of poultry gone wild are very entertaining.

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  12. Deb...When I do my own grocery shopping I'm a bit more picky about what I buy, as in turkey. But I won't complain when I can have it delivered to my kitchen and I don't have to spend an hour on a bus to go get it!

    Sometimes I think my kids turned out good in spite of my parenting skills! I'm so proud of the adults they have become.

    I took a look at the vacuum canner you mentioned. Looks interesting and I'll have to check it out more. I especially liked the chicken stampede video. :)

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  13. You sure stayed busy this Thanksgiving. We did a little shopping and a little tv watching, and that's about it. I'm glad you had a good time.

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  14. Yeah, it gets busy sometimes with kids and grands in the neighborhood! However, Friday I gave the word "nap" a whole new meaning, spending the better part of the day snoozing in my recliner. :) Nothing wrong with having a nice, quiet, relaxing holiday. Glad you and your wife had a pleasant day.

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  15. We had a 24 lb bird, but its all gone. left overs never last long. Maybe you and the son should look into a chest freezer. Family next door bought one for $200. He has it loaded with meat he brought back from TX a few weeks ago. #2 son and GF have a chest freezer and I was told to bring anything over. Stay indoors and warm.

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  16. Rob...Leftovers here will last quite a while. We had a meal from Son's turkey and he took the remaining meat to package up for sandwiches, etc. I roasted mine today and tomorrow will make broth and soup to can. I have a chest freezer, but filled the remaining space in it with the 50 lbs. of cranberries I got from the Farmer's Market. I will process them after Christmas and then will have more room. I do have enough space in the freezer part of the fridge for a little turkey meat, and will just can up the rest.

    Luckily, I don't have to go anywhere until Christmas. Indoors and warm is high on my list of priorities! :)

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