Needlepoint tree ornament

I just finished sewing this little needlepoint ornament and hubby did the honours of hanging it on our tree.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

The tree is up and hubby's vintage nutcracker dolls are holding court on the windowsills.

Voilà-- the bird!

Flowers for my Thanksgiving table

Ornamental Kale and Pink Birthday Bliss Roses.

Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake-- fresh out of the oven

Brining the Turkey

Here you have it—my brining technique—the easiest way to inject as much moisture and flavour into a turkey.

Brining sounds more anxiety-ridden than it really is. In essence what you are doing is immersing the bird in a salt-water bath with a few aromatics. The aromatics can be any combination of herbs and spices that you fancy—see the slideshow below for my curated selection.

My secret ingredient is buttermilk—the staple of a lot of southern fried chicken recipes. I use just a little water to steep the aromatics and dissolve the salt, then substitute the rest of the water with tangy buttermilk. The result is to be tasted to believed.

These are the important proportions to remember:
Salt: 1/4 cup Salt for every 5 lbs of turkey
Buttermilk: 9 oz. Buttermilk for every pound of turkey
Herbs: 1/4 cup of Assorted Herbs for every 5 lbs of turkey
Spices: 2 tbsp of assorted whole spices for every 5 lbs of turkey

If you have a pre-brined turkey, you can still use my recipe to impart maximum flavour. Just skip the salt all together.



[Click here to see the images in a larger size.]

Rosemary Tangerine Martini

In the midst of all my Thanksgiving prep, I ended up with a few extra cups of freshly squeezed tangerine juice, left over from the cranberry sauce that I made earlier in the day. In lieu of saving the juice for next morning’s breakfast, I poured it with some citron vodka and fresh rosemary sprigs over ice, gave it a quick shake and voilà—a late afternoon pick-me-up! This can also be a terrific pre-dinner drink for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients
8 oz freshly squeezed Tangerine juice
3 oz Lemon-flavoured Vodka (I prefer Absolut Citron)
3–4 sprigs Rosemary

1. Pour tangerine juice and vodka into a cocktail shaker. Add 2 sprigs of rosemary torn in half. Top with ice cubes and shake. 
2. Strain into two chilled martini glasses garnished with leftover rosemary. 

[Serves 2]