Ketchup

November brought Thanksgiving...

One of the best food holidays!

The Family decided at the Pumpkin Carving Party to have a Thanksgiving dinner

I graciously volunteered to do the turkey and a few sides...

I've never made a turkey so I was pumped

I started looking up recipes, tips and tricks, and even hit up my mother

A few days before the dinner I found out we were going to have more people than expected

Usually a great thing, except I didn't have enough turkey!

Begin: Turkey Drama, Tuesday

To make things more complicated I decided to fry the second turkey.

I've never fried a turkey.

Dinner is on Saturday

I work till 10ish on Tuesday nights so I figured I would go to Walmart since it's down the street and pick up another fresh turkey and some tasty goodness to inject into it

I tossed the turkey in the frig and went to bed...

The next night I made the brine for the 'regular' turkey and then had plans with a hottie...

Thursday night I injected my original fresh turkey (from costco) with Creole Butter (think I'll try jalapeno butter next time)

Quite the experience, piercing, nay, stabbing a turkey in so many spots with a syringe filled with a deliciously fragrant fluid...

All I had to do was open the Walmart turkey and place it in the pot of brine to soak overnight

I pulled it out of the frig....cut off the net...and realized it was FROZEN

Yes, in my fuzzy haste on Tuesday night I grabbed a frozen turkey.

At this point it was 11:15 and I was tired.

Fine. I'll go to the grocery store in the morning, pick up a fresh turkey, come home, unpack it and stick it in the brine, then go to work.

Hyvee at 7:30am is a madhouse.

People getting coffee at Starbucks, buying donuts, eating breakfast etc. etc.

I wander around, admiring the chaos, and finally find the fresh turkeys.

They cost twice as much as the ones at Costco.

Fuck that.

I am NOT paying twice as much for my second turkey!

So I suck it up and go to work.

I relay the whole story to everyone.

They have no problem when I leave just before 10 to get to Costco to buy another turkey...

I get it home, and start unpacking it...it's fresh but...still really really cold

Hands freezing, I had to resort to cutting the skin holding the drumsticks together.

Bummer

There was no way I was getting into the top cavity so I dumped it into the brine with the innards still inside...they're sealed, it'll be fine.

I make it back to work, amazingly, in an hour.

That night I baked my butt off.

2 pumpkin pies (from real pumpkins, not a can) and a black & white cheesecake (100% scratch) later...it was 2 am!

Oh yeah, I made cranberry sauce from scratch too, easy and way better than the can

Saturday, up early, pack up the car and off I go...

I've never cooked the main entree for more than 8 people...we ended up having 11

Aside from the turkeys, dessert, and cranberry sauce, I also roasted some butternut squash, and made the stuffing and gravy!

It wasn't my place but I had the run of the kitchen, cleaning up here n there while the Man of the House, whose main duty at home is to clean, kept telling me not to, he'll take care of it...

I was in The Zone.

I really enjoyed it!

The food was great, if you've never had a fried turkey, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Crispy on the outside, succulent and flavorful on the inside.

It was the only dish that was completely devoured.

I loved it so much I requested a turkey fryer for Christmas.

It may be one of the those things you'd buy your worst enemy, in the hopes that he/she wouldn't follow directions or take the necessary precautions and blow something up

I'm willing to risk it.

It's the closest you can get to heaven on this planet.

photo frenzy

I just burned an hour and a half uploading, naming, and organizing hundreds of photos! (and watching a bowl game...)

Long breaks from Internet Life are not recommended!

Ok...so what have I been up?

In October I had my second annual Pumpkin Carving Party

It was bigger than the first and a great time!

I carved 5 pumpkins this year and spent a whopping $85 at the pumpkin farm

Yep I got some poor sap to drive me up to the farm (again) just so I could buy primo carving pumpkins

And some pie pumpkins, of course

The first three pumpkins were destined to be included in a basket of halloween items for a charity auction

As you can see, they are fabulous, my boss even suggested I start charging people for them (he'd buy one)



Huh. Maybe :)

After the party a few of us went to the Champps Karaoke Finals to cheer on our own while they sang Afternoon Delight in costume (they took second place and won $50)

I even got up there to sing one of my favorites, I Touch Myself

It was okay, I'd have to say it's the toughest karaoke I've ever done, I was only a half a beer deep and couldn't hear myself!

No speakers in front of me. Bummer.

I decided to dress up for work at the last minute and ran out to buy all the thing I'd need to be an 80s Office Worker Zombie

I was rummaging through the racks at GoodWill when I found IT

The kind of find you just HAVE to buy.

A bright orange polyester leisure suit:

And it only cost me $6

I was chosen as a costume judge again this year for work...

When I walked into HQ, no one recognized me

(I was sporting my baby pink glitter platforms as well)

I called myself Hot Tequila Brown, after one of my favorite Jamiroquai songs

I was amazed at how well the suit fit me, and damn was it hot!

Cruella is my way awesome coworker Jeni, we were the only two to dress up in our office!

She totally won best costume.