A Different Way to be Thankful!

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This might be a great way to share Christmas dinners also!

Wednesday was the day before Thanksgiving...and Hubby and I were cooking and all was well? 

Well, maybe---like many others we are not Gathering...but Hubby and I have been dicing, mashing, roasting and rolling, stuffing and, packing it all up!

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We share holidays now, between three families and E except for THANKSGIVING! Seems my kids are daunted by roasting a turkey, making stuffing from bare bread, and the pies. 

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Normally we ALL do apple pies together and make a bunch from a bushel of apples, but not this year. I did get a 1/2 bushel of Macs...just for pies and baking.

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We've been watching Christmas movies to avoid the news----STILL! 

And, really hoping for peace on earth soon. Meanwhile there is no peace in the kitchen our island counter has been super busy! 

Stuffing: It started with a pound of giblets and one pound of Ground Turkey, and bakery bread cubes, celery, onions and fresh herbs, poultry seasoning, butter and lots of homemade broth. This made five aluminum loaf pans of Stuffing.

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 My favorite!

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Out thirteen pound turkey was lightly stuffed with lots of fresh herbs, celery and onions, smelled NUMMY. 

A fifteen pound Hickory smoked Ham...basted with ginger ale and baked all the way through. It smelled Delicious. Hubby cut it in thick slabs so it will stay juicy.

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Red Cabbage, simmered with butter and apples to a dark rich burgundy, a Thanksgiving tradition here.

Five pounds of yellow potatoes, boiled and mashed with milk and butter.

The Five pumpkin pies, made from Halloween pumpkins we roasted. 

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And, five Apple pies for one for each family  extra just in case.

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One with a Dutch Apple crust, I froze for Christmas. The right one has my Mom-in-laws signature wheat piercings.

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The rest have everyone's initials.

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We made  finally made gravy after everything was cut and boxed last night. The secret to a nice bodied gravy is use your potato water and broth boiled in the bottom of the roaster with all the good bits!

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We packed up our pickup truck with icecream/coolwhip/plates/napkins, all the food and ready for our traditional Christmas meal. 

OUR way to make it seem normal!

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Best part everyone was in jammies or in the shower when we arrived. And we social distanced.

Delivery Service Free, with Thanks to our Family for being the best, staying healthy and safe. How else can we show love, more than that.

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My son and family are putting up their tree today.

We made two more deliveries, caught E ...not dressed, and other son in the shower. 

Also included 2 hambones for the puppies at E's home.

Boys declared reverse Thanksgiving and had pie first!!!

Lots of texts and photos later! 

LOL..Thanksgiving in front of the TV. 

If it had to be a different Thanksgiving, this was a great way to do it.

Oops, buzzer went off, our meal is heating up in the oven right now!

HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING

ANY WAY YOU CAN!

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Do not use my photos without my permission and linking back to this post on my blog.

I will read and happily respond to every comment and answer every question.

Thank you for your cooperation, 

Sandi 

 

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OUR REALITY-Happy Thanksgiving to All!

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To all those out there, preparing, cleaning, shopping, scurrying for the the holiday, my spirit is with you!

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I'm pulling photos from years past--because very little is being done here because I'm still recovering from my knee replacement. I'm doing well---and GIVING THANKS!

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There have been no fun kid projects this year!

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And no new goodies to share......but I GIVE THANKS to my readers, friends, doctors, therapists besides my wonderful friends and family!

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The important part isn't shiny windows, or sparkling glassware---it's gathering together with those you LOVE and sharing that LOVE!

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Of course there is all that good Food!

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But, family heirlooms are still packed away (I can't get into the basement!)

But I love the warmth and joy of the images of Thanksgiving!

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The bounty of our countries farms, and homemade pies!

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The recipes...And THANKS to all the people who share their love and knowledge  on their blogs!

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We did get up our Tom Turkey up in the yard, but no pumpkins are out....with the frost and snow we have already had!

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Other favorites are lurking in downstairs bins....

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Dinner this year will be on paper plates and a buffet-streamlined, store-bought pies,(shudder), and no fuss!

We are calling it, Rustic and Informal....

But most of all We give Thanks for the LOVE 

Family and Friends will gather and share!

Thank you all for your well wishes, and best to you and all your 'families'

And have a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

Thank you for any and all comments.

Finally I am able to reply to comments by using Chrome. So all you Mac users who have upgraded to Catalina---this might help the glitches on Blogger!

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 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 

Sandi 

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Homemade Turkey Soup

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Once upon a time, I said I was an awesome cook and yet I seldom write food posts. But, when I think of Fall, I just have to think of a steaming kettle of homemade soup. Fresh turkey legs were in the counter this week and they were huge. So I picked up a package of two with the intention of making soup for our healthy living style.

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If I were going to make a kettle full, I would use a 16 quart large kettle. But for a single turkey leg, I pulled out my trusty 8 quart crock pot. Then I cleaned out the refrigerator of the vegetables we had on hand.

At this stage of my life, I'm a taste cook for many recipes, in other words I don't use a recipe.
I know what I want something to taste like, so I start in my mind and use what I have basically in the house or freezer and go from there. No running to the store ten times a week, not really a GREEN thing to do. I shop when I'm out for other reasons, and not exuding extra carbon emissions on running to the store.

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Crock Pot Homemade Turkey Soup
1 fresh Turkey leg 1-1/2 to 2#
6-8 quarts of water depending on the size of your crockpot
Seasoning (I use 3 tablespoons of dried chives, 2 bay leaves, pepper to taste 2 tsp. salt, 3 Tblsp of salt free-seasoning, fresh or dried garlic to taste)
2 small onions, chopped
4 stalks of celery including tops, chopped

Cook on High for 4 hours or more, until meat begins to separate from the bones. Remove turkey to cool. Remove fat, skin, and bones.

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Soup is a great way to utilize what is in the refrigerator. Other great soup vegetables are tomatoes, zucchini, yellow summer squash, Swiss Chard, mushrooms. Take your pick.

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These large carrots have been particularly sweet and tasty.

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I rough cut the cabbage also using the outer leaves.

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Small head of cabbage and chopped peppers.

Add:
5 large carrots sliced thick
1 1/2  cups of assorted chopped sweet peppers
1/2 small head of cabbage sliced thin
Add chopped parsley or cilantro with vegetables or fresh rosemary or all.
Squeeze juice of one lemon as a non-salt enhancer and also to clarify the soup.

Cook on high for 1 hour. Taste add more seasoning if needed. Add chopped turkey and cook on high for 1-2 more hours.

Hint: if your pot is going to be too full, remove 2 cups of broth. Your vegetables will cook down and you can add the broth back in.

Overnight Method:
Throw everything together and cook on low all day or over night. You can add rice, navy beans, barley or wild rice in the overnight method. I squeeze the juice of one lemon into the soup to help clarify it at the end, when I chop the turkey up and put it back in.

PS Smoked Turkey legs are awesome for bean soups--and healthy choice over ham/pork hocks.

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Healthy Living:fresh vegetables and Turkey!

Enjoy!

Thanks always for visiting. 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

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Sandi

DIY Porch Cushions for the Holidays, UH OH!

So much for Fall and Thanksgiving, apparently---ALL YOU~~~

* Christmas* people have WON! *O* !

Last night, with the snowy forecast in the news, I began covering my porch furniture in all those vintage plaid table cloths I bought here. This is the first year we are leaving the furniture on the porch. So I purchased OLD acrylic plaid table cloths in various tartans to REDO the settee, two chairs and the swing to protect the cushions a bit from the elements.

I got the swing and settee done about 8:00 pm on Friday. I simply cut the cloths in half and utilized the finished edges. Then used huge pins to secure the fabric underneath. Matching the plaids was entertaining the first hour,  and for the 4 cushions on the settee and the double cushions on the swing, I used a package of 40. I will need to get the dogsled going tomorrow to get some more.

I came inside because I was cold after doing the swing cushions, they were larger than my available space in the livingroom. So no picture, and hour later we looked outside, 9pm CST. NEW fallen SNOW! I forgot to take a pic of the swing, because the snow was so gorgeous. We were like little kids running from window to window to look at the snow. Big, HUGE, fluffy flakes, just like on a Christmas card.

Nothing sets off snow like orange lights, snort.

So here is the swing, all covered in the OLD tartan, LOL. See it's there...just under the sliding 6" we had at 8am. So we bundled up and shoveled, correction pushed the snow---too wet to snowblow or lift, for old people.

Thanksgiving decorations...Pfffft. Here is our blow-up turkey...he's still blown up just buried and bent over.

And our pretty maple tree...and our orange lights, nothing looks wierder than candycorn lights on snow.

 

I filled the birdfeeders during the storm lull ---at 10am. We haven't fed them since mid-summer because of all the available natural feed, I'm sure they will be pigging out today!

My pond kids...Ice fishing apparently in the frozen pond. That's a GREEN blooming Hibiscus plant and a blooming royal blue Iris you can barely see behind. WIERD YEAR!  5pm update they are totally buried now. nothing sticking out but the poles.

This is 1:00 pm and the storm is still going strong.... and in the background...

Those are CHRISTMAS TREES for sure, now to go dig out the pumpkin lights along the walk...Happy Thanksgiving!

5 pm Saturday update....16" and counting. Hopefully it will stop soon. We are in the NW suburbs of Chicagoland.


 Thanks always for stopping by,  I'll be happy to answer any questions or comments.

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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own or I am in possesion of the originals, 

I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or products used. 

Please do not use my photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

Sandi

DIY Desperation Breakfast

Croissant Roll-ups!

In my October frenzy of trying to clean (GREEN) out my cupboards of OLD food stuffs, and the refrigerator and freezers, I managed to let our food stores dwindle to starvation level.

This morning...no eggs or eggbeaters, no milk/or evaporated milk, one piece of dry bread, no juice, no bacon, ham, or sausage...but we had coffee, thank heavens. We are usually big breakfast eaters as we are always busy in the mornings. As my husband and I split a heel of bread...yugh...I thought of this!

In the drawer was a roll of Pillsubury low-fat crescent rolls, a package of low-fat smoked turkey deli-meat, and a hunk of mild cheddar cheese--all a base for what turned out to be a NUMMY breakfast.

 

Starving, we pulled apart the crescent dough, Hubby was fast on this, 

I had to catch up with the camera.

I placed a half a piece of turkey (next time will place both halves on)

and about a tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese to the dough.

We added a dab of lingonberries (IKEA)---or this could easily be cranberries, or applesauce.

At this point they really looked good enough to eat. (Can't you tell we are hungry?)

We did a quick roll up, and placed them on parchment paper, popped them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 14-15 min.

They came out toasty brown and bubbling, (all the ingredients are precooked anyway) and these were ready to serve.

And were absolutely nummy, roughly 130 calories each as made. We each ate two and split a half an apple and another cup of coffee.

They were actually so good, next time I need to bring a brunch item, I will make some up with some ham/turkey and maybe some brie, with the lingonberries. I popped the other four into the freezer for a quick microwave breakfast in the future.

Now to clean the fridge and go shopping! 

Have a great day...and as always, thanks for stopping by.

Sharing at these great parties:

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Sandi